ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Waste Disposal

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will issue guidance to waste disposal authorities to advise them not to enter into long-term waste disposal contracts prior to the conclusions of the review into waste policy being undertaken by the Performance and Innovation Unit.

Michael Meacher: holding answer 17 December 2001
	This should not be necessary since such contracts should be designed so as to provide sufficient flexibility to be able to take account of and respond to changed circumstances during the lifetime of the contracts, including any future statutory performance standards or new opportunities for increasing recycling and composting.

Illegal Meat Imports

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what the average fine imposed on people who imported illegal meats into the country has been in each of the past 10 years; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how many people have (a) been arrested and (b) received a fine for importing illegal meats into the country in each of the past 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: Central records are not available for a 10-year period.
	Last year, HM Customs and Excise arrested three people for offences under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) involving illegal meat imports. Of these, two were convicted as a CITES offence, both received prison sentence of four months. The third person was acquitted but convicted under a separate Animal Health charge resulting in a penalty of a conditional discharge for one year and costs of £100.

Radioactive Waste

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if radioactive waste material is used to produce (a) consumer goods and (b) other products within the UK; and which manufacturing sectors use radioactive waste in the production of their products.

Michael Meacher: Radioactively contaminated metal, such as that recovered from decommissioned nuclear plant, is sometimes sold on to the scrap metal market after it has been treated to reduce its radioactivity content. In order to allow the metal to be sold, its radioactivity level must be below the 0.4 Becquerel/gram regulatory exemption level set out in Schedule 1 of the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 and the Substances of Low Activity (SOLA) Exemption Order. The material is then no longer considered to be radioactive. Once it has been sold on to the scrap metal market, it is not possible to identify the products or manufacturing sectors in which it is used.

Recruitment

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many net additional staff her Department has recruited in each month since June 2001 at (a) executive officer level and (b) administrative level.

Elliot Morley: The number of net additional staff recruited in DEFRA between June 2001 and March 2002 is shown in the table.
	
		June to December 2001
		
			   Executive officer level  Administrative level  
			 Type of staff Headcount FTE Headcount FTE 
		
		
			 June 2001 
			 Permanent 0 0.07 -9 -7.29 
			 Casual 111 108.95 131 129.57 
			 Total 111 109.02 122 122.28 
			  
			 July 2001 
			 Permanent 2 2.39 3 5.59 
			 Casual 83 82.46 227 223.82 
			 Total 85 84.85 230 229.41 
			  
			 August 2001 
			 Permanent -7 -7.00 -8 -5.61 
			 Casual 27 26.92 22 23.03 
			 Total 20 19.92 14 17.42 
			  
			 September 2001 
			 Permanent 3 3.00 19 19.60 
			 Casual 5 4.46 -24 -26.65 
			 Total 8 7.46 -5 -7.05 
			 October 2001 
			 Permanent 5 4.95 1 0.97 
			 Casual 99 99.00 66 65.25 
			 Total 104 103.95 67 66.22 
			  
			 November 2001 
			 Permanent 14 14.00 10 10.43 
			 Casual -99 -98.41 10 11.47 
			 Total -85 -84.41 20 21.90 
			  
			 December 2001 
			 Permanent 13 13.00 -7 -5.94 
			 Casual -76 -75.46 -5 -4.22 
			 Total -63 -62.46 -12 -10.16 
		
	
	
		January to March 2002
		
			   Executive officer level  Administrative level  
			 Type of staff Headcount FTE Headcount FTE 
		
		
			 January 2002 
			 Permanent 8 8.59 -27 -26.97 
			 Casual -21 -21.00 -39 -39.24 
			 Total -13 -12.41 -66 -66.21 
			 February 2002 
			 Permanent 12 12.05 23 23.46 
			 Casual -25 -24.20 6 6.20 
			 Total -13 -12.15 29 29.66 
			  
			 March 2002 
			 Permanent 19 19.19 35 34.39 
			 Casual -43 -42.02 -10 -10.00 
			 Total -24 -22.83 25 24.39 
			  
			 Totals 
			 Permanent 69 70.24 40 48.63 
			 Casual 61 60.70 384 379.23 
			 Total 130 130.94 424 427.86 
		
	
	The high increase in the number of casual appointments between June and October 2001 is due to the additional staff required to deal with the foot and mouth disease outbreak.
	The figures for June to December 2001 relate to the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food only. Information relating to the divisions of the former Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions that transferred to DEFRA could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Veterinary Laboratory (Scotland)

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will establish a dedicated veterinary laboratory for Scotland.

Elliot Morley: The State Veterinary Service in Scotland have access to a range of existing laboratory facilities throughout Great Britain in addition to those in Scotland and have no plans to establish a dedicated facility of their own.

Horticultural Research

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the breakdown is of Government-financed horticultural research, by crop.

Elliot Morley: Total Government spend on horticultural R and D by commodity is as follows:
	
		£ million
		
			  1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 
		
		
			 Bulbs 0.3 0.3 0.4 
			 Cross commodity 0.4 0.4 0.9 
			 Field vegetables 3.3 4.0 4.2 
			 Hardy nursery stock 1.2 1.2 1.3 
			 Herbs 0.08 0.08 0.05 
			 Hops 0.4 0.3 0.3 
			 Mushrooms 1.0 1.0 (1)0.7 
			 Outdoor flowers 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Potatoes 4.7 5.4 5.7 
			 Protected crops 2.0 1.8 1.5 
			 Soft fruit 2.7 2.3 2.2 
			 Top fruit 1.9 1.7 (1)1.6 
		
	
	(1) Information from Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for Northern Ireland not available.
	DEFRA's records are kept by commodity and not by crop. To provide a breakdown by crop could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.

Horticultural Research

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what financial support for horticultural research the Government have provided in each year since 1990.

Elliot Morley: Government funding for horticulture R and D, including potatoes, for the last 10 years is as follows:
	
		
			 Year £ million 
		
		
			 1992–93 7.0 
			 1993–94 8.0 
			 1994–95 (2)18.1 
			 1995–96 (2)18.9 
			 1996–97 (2)19.3 
			 1997–98 18.4 
			 1998–99 17.4 
			 1999–2000 17.1 
			 2000–01 17.8 
			 2001–02 (2)18.1 
		
	
	(2) Does not include funding from Department of Agricultural and Rural Development for Northern Ireland, for which information is unavailable.

Horticultural Research

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs through which organisations Government support for horticultural research is provided.

Elliot Morley: Government support for Horticulture R and D is provided by DEFRA, SEERAD and DARDNI. Government-funded horticultural research is currently provided through a range of research institutes, universities and other research providers, as listed.
	ADAS Consulting Ltd.
	British Potato Council
	Canterbury Christchurch College
	Central Science Laboratory
	Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, NI
	Dove Associates Ltd.
	Harper Adams Agricultural College
	Higgins (formerly Gordon and Innes)
	Horticulture Research International
	Institute of Arable Crops Research
	Institute of Food Research
	John Innes Centre
	Macauley Land Use Research Institute
	Moredun Research Institute
	Rowett Research Institute
	Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
	Scottish Agricultural College
	Scottish Crops Research Institute
	Silsoe Research Institute
	Mylnefield Research Services Ltd.
	Nottingham Trent University
	University College of North Wales
	University of Aberdeen
	University of Brighton
	University of Bristol
	University of Durham
	University of Glasgow
	University of Hertfordshire
	University of Lancaster
	University of Leeds
	University of London (Wye College)
	University of Newcastle
	University of Nottingham
	University of Reading
	University of Wales
	University of West of England
	Writtle College.

Horticultural Research

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the research and development budget is for horticulture in the next three years; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The DEFRA budget for horticulture R and D for 2002–03 is £9.854 million. The horticulture R and D budget for future years will be set in the light of inter alia the outcome of spending review 2002, the recent review of horticultural R and D and the forthcoming review of DEFRA's science strategy.

Horticultural Research

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of Government financed horticultural research is initiated by her Department.

Elliot Morley: In 2000–01 (the most recent year for which details are available), DEFRA funding amounted to approximately 65 per cent. of the total Government funding for horticulture R and D.

Agro-chemical Businesses

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she is making in respect of EU plans to review active ingredients in agro-chemical products; and if she will make a statement on the impact that rapid phasing out active ingredients will have on small UK agro-chemical businesses.

Elliot Morley: The Department has played an active role in supporting the EU review programme for older pesticides. We believe that it is vital to ensure that all active ingredients used in pesticides meet modern standards of human and environmental safety.
	I recognise that a significant number of pesticide products will be withdrawn as a result of the review process and this will have an impact on some small agro-chemical companies. I believe that there will also be new opportunities particularly for companies developing environmentally friendly alternative methods of plant protection including certain microbial products. In developing the EU pesticides regime we will endeavour to ensure that the regulatory requirements for such products are proportionate to the risks they pose.

Common Land

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will respond to the consultation on greater protection and better management of common land in England and Wales.

Alun Michael: Due to the number and complexity of the issues raised, progress has been slower than hoped. We expect to announce our proposals for future action and to publish a detailed report on the responses to the consultation paper soon.

Common Land

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in how many cases in England and Wales common land grazing rights have been sold separately from the land they were previously associated with since 1972.

Alun Michael: There is no requirement in the Commons Registration Act 1965, or other legislation, for the Commons Registration Authorities to be notified when grazing rights are separated from the land with which they were previously associated. Consequently no figures on the number of cases are available.

Common Land

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the implications of the House of Lords ruling in the case Bettison v Langton and others for the future management and protection of common land.

Alun Michael: The Bettison v Langton judgment made it conclusive in law that rights of common of grazing, registered for a fixed number of animals as required by the Commons Registration Act 1965, could be severed from the common land to which they were originally attached. This judgment could have significant implications for the management of common land.
	We have already issued guidance to the Commons Registration Authorities on how to record severance on the register of common land if they are notified it has taken place. In the consultation document "Greater Protection and Better Management of Common Land in England and Wales" we invited views on the idea of preventing severance. We expect to announce our conclusions soon.

Fruit

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will ban imports of fruit treated with Carbaryl (Thinsec); and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 26 April 2002
	The Department has no plans to ban imports of fruit treated with carbaryl. Carbaryl has been withdrawn from use in the UK because it was not supported by any agrochemical companies, when the relevant approvals were reviewed. However, it remains approved in other countries including some in the EC.
	Residues of carbaryl in imported fruit are controlled through the Pesticides (Maximum Residue Levels in Crops, Food and Feeding Stuffs) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999 (as amended).
	Fruit which complies with the Maximum Residue Levels set in these Regulations may be imported into the UK.

New Forest

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 
	(1)  pursuant to her answer of 10 April, Official Report, column 281W, on the New Forest, what criteria will inform her decision on whether to call a public inquiry regarding the establishment of a national park in the New Forest;
	(2)  pursuant to her answer of 10 April, Official Report, column 281W, on the New Forest, what discretion she has in calling a public inquiry into the establishment of a New Forest National Park if statutory bodies and local authorities have objected; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: As set out in paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 1 to the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, it is a statutory requirement to hold a local inquiry if an objection is duly made by a local authority and not withdrawn, Otherwise, if any representation or objection duly made, for example by a statutory body or a member of the public, is not withdrawn, the Secretary of State has the discretion either to cause a local inquiry to be held or to afford any person who has made a representation or objection the opportunity of being heard by a person appointed for the purpose. As well as whether or not to hold an inquiry, the Secretary of State has some discretion to determine its scope. An announcement will be made soon.

Fishing Industry

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many meetings officials from her Department had with representatives of the Cornish fishing industry in (a) March and (b) April.

Elliot Morley: The Department provides the Secretariat to the Objective 1 Fisheries Priorities Management Group in Cornwall which includes a wide representation of the Cornish fishing industry. It met on 18 March and on 22 April. Apart from that representatives of their industry, among others, participate from time to time in meetings with officials on various subjects.

Fishing Industry

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the effects multilateral consultation will have on the legislative power of sea fisheries committees; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the financial implications for local government of future additional control responsibilities for sea fisheries committee resulting from the 2002 Common Fisheries Policy review; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: As I have previously said, the time to take stock of all the aspects of the role and activities of Sea Fisheries Committees will be once we know the outcome of the review of the Common Fisheries Policy. That means when we have not only the overdue proposals on the CFP from the Commission but also a conclusion in the negotiations that will follow in the Council of Ministers. It would be premature to draw any conclusions in relation to Sea Fisheries Committees in advance of that.

Farming Industry

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) bankruptcies and (b) people employed there were in the farming industry in (i) 1999–2000, (ii) 2000–01 and (iii) 2001–2002; and what was the average income in the industry in each of these years.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 29 April 2002
	(a) Data on bankruptcies are available for England and Wales combined, and are given in the table.
	
		Number of bankruptcies(3) in the agricultural and horticultural sector: England and Wales 1999–2001
		
			   1999 2000 (3)2001 
		
		
			 Bankruptcies of self-employed individuals 183 173 136 
			 Company(4) insolvencies 75 67 67 
			  
			 Total 258 240 203 
		
	
	(3) First three quarters only
	(4) Including partnerships
	Source:
	Department of Trade and Industry
	(b) Data on the labour force in agriculture and average income for England are given in the table.
	Total labour force in agriculture and total income from farming per whole-time person equivalent.
	
		
			  1999 2000 2001 2001 
		
		
			 Total labour force 397,700 373,900 (5)368,300 (6)387,800 
			 Total income from farming per annual work unit of farmers, partners and those 
			 with an entrepreneurial interest(7) (£) 13,203 8,159 9,059 — 
		
	
	(5) These results exclude the effect of the register improvement in England and are directly comparable with June 2000.
	(6) These results include the effect of the register improvement in England and are not directly comparable with June 2000.
	(7) An annual work unit (AWU) represents the equivalent of an average full-time person engaged in agriculture.
	Sources:
	June Agricultural and Horticultural Census
	Agriculture in the United Kingdom

British Beef

Colin Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the French ban on British beef.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 30 April 2002
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made it clear that we expect France to lift its ban as soon as possible. It is for the Commission to take action to enforce EU law and it has asked France for an explanation of its failure to comply with the ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). This is the first stage in a process which may lead to a further ECJ case against France and the imposition of penalties for failure to comply with the Court's Judgment in December 2001 that the French ban on imports of UK beef exported under the Date-based Export Scheme is illegal.

Bristol Channel

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government are taking to monitor the illegal dumping of waste by shipping in the Bristol channel.

David Jamieson: I have been asked to reply.
	Waters around the UK are regularly patrolled by surveillance aircraft equipped to detect pollution. The data held for 2001–02 by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) indicate that more than 150 such flights were made under arrangements put in place by the MCA and that more than 20 per cent. of these flights covered the west or south-west of the UK and would therefore have covered part of the Bristol channel. In addition, civil and military pilots are encouraged to report sightings of pollution. Every incident spotted, or reported, is investigated and, whenever possible, those parties responsible for committing pollution offences are prosecuted.
	The UK also has legislation in place to ensure a properly planned system of waste reception facilities in ports, in order to leave no excuse for ships to resort to the unacceptable practice of discharging their waste at sea. The MCA has approved 36 waste management plans for ports or parts of ports around the Bristol channel, an area of coastline stretching from Milford Haven to Newquay. In 2000, the European Community adopted a directive to establish a port waste reception facilities system across the Community; like other member states, the UK is working on the implementation of this directive, which will come into force in December of this year.

Rural Proofing

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the timetable is for implementing the range of rural proofing measures set out in the Rural White Paper and referred to on page 26 of the Countryside Agency's report, "Rural Proofing in 2001–02".

Alun Michael: Implementing rural proofing is an on-going process across Government. Individual Departments and the Countryside Agency are working together to develop rural proofing strategies and to rural proof individual policies. DEFRA officials are also involved. As the agency's first annual report recommends, the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Rural Renewal will review progress in the autumn, and take a close and continuing interest in the subject generally. The Countryside Agency will report again next year on progress with rural- proofing, so there is a regular external monitoring and evaluation process.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Staff Pay

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what have been the total salary costs of each of the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible in each of the last five years.

Ben Bradshaw: The salary costs for each of the FCO's NDPBs have been as follows:
	British Council (UK appointed staff only, excluding national insurance contributions. Salary costs for locally appointed staff cannot be collated in the time available)
	1999–2000—£27,890,986
	2000–01—£28,753,593
	2001–02—£29,400,401
	Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission
	No salary costs (the salaries of the Secretariat are paid by the Association of Commonwealth Universities)
	Westminster Foundation for Democracy
	1997–98—£214,398
	1998–99—£260,607
	1999–2000—£315,192
	2000–01—£331,179
	Great Britain China Centre
	1997–98—£119,555
	1998–99—£133,713
	1999–2000—£137,719
	2000–01—£144,545
	British-Russia Centre
	1999–2000—£127,591
	2000–01—£115,639
	2001–02—£106,616
	British Association for Central and Eastern Europe
	1999–2000—£124,238
	2000–01—£137,533
	2001–02—£138,788
	Diplomatic Service Appeals Board
	No salary costs (chairman and members are paid per diem and travel allowances)
	Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine
	No salary costs
	Wilton Park Academic Council
	No salary costs (travel expenses only are paid)
	Foreign Compensation Commission
	Employs one person, salary band: 2001–02—£20,240-£29,732.
	The above are the figures presently available. In some cases the 2001–02 figures are not yet available, and in some, earlier figures could not be located in the time available.

Private Simon Jeans

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions in the last three years consular staff in (a) London and (b) Zagreb have offered help to the family of Private Simon Jeans.

Ben Bradshaw: Since the tragic death of Private Simon Jeans, our consular staff in London and Zagreb have offered full consular assistance to his family. It is difficult to be precise on the exact numbers of contacts and representations made with them, but there have been many. We approached the Croatian courts on numerous occasions for information about the case, and attended all court hearings with Private Jeans' family. Our consular division in London last spoke with Simon Jeans' father, Terry, in May 2001, and our pro-consul in Split last met with Mr. Jeans in August 2001, when he visited Croatia.
	The hon. Member will be aware that Private Jeans was a serving member of the British Army at the time of his death. As such, the Ministry of Defence was and continue to be the lead Department in this case. Private Jeans' family are aware there is very little our consular staff can do with regards to the case in Croatia, as it is now a legal matter. Under international law we are unable to get involved in the judicial process of other countries. Nevertheless, Mr. Jeans and the MOD have been in regular touch.

Germany

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department has taken since 1 January to assist Catherine Meyer regain custody of her sons through the German courts.

Ben Bradshaw: Catherine Meyer is currently pursuing legal proceedings before the German constitutional court to be reunited with her sons. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has provided consular support and assistance to Catherine Meyer with her case in the past. As with any child abduction case, we continue to provide consular assistance whenever we can.

Recruitment

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many net additional staff his Department has recruited in each month since June 2001 at (a) executive officer level and (b) administrative level.

Ben Bradshaw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has recruited the following net additional permanent staff since June 2001.
	
		
			 Month Executive officer level Administrative level 
		
		
			 June 2001 -2 19 
			 July 2001 -3 20 
			 August 2001 0 15 
			 September 2001 0 25 
			 October 2001 11 28 
			 November 2001 6 17 
			 December 2001 -4 -1 
			 January 2002 6 22 
			 February 2002 -1 21 
			 March 2002 5 22 
			 April 2002 1 23 
			 Total 19 211

Diplomatic Service

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of (a) the Diplomatic Service and (b) British ambassadors and high commissioners attended (i) Oxford or Cambridge universities and (ii) independent schools.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 29 April 2002
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answers given to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Pollock (Mr. Davidson) on 25 March 2002, Official Report, column 611W and 15 April 2002, Official Report, columns 725–26W.

European Commission (Phase-in Proposals)

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's position is on the European Commission's phase-in proposals for the receipt by newly admitted member states of the European Union of (a) funds due under the Common Agricultural Policy and (b) structural funds.

Peter Hain: (a) The Government consider that agricultural spending should support restructuring in the candidate countries to modernise their agricultural economies. The Government therefore welcome the emphasis on rural development in the Commission's proposals as this is the most effective way to help new member states restructure agriculture sectors. As regards the proposal to phase in direct payments, the Government note the arguments provided in the Commission's issues paper about the damaging effects of high direct payments in the new member states. The Government consider it important to evaluate fully all relevant aspects, including whether other options may better help restructuring.
	(b) The Government welcome the emphasis within the overall financing proposals on Structural and Cohesion Funds, to tackle the new member states' restructuring and developmental needs. The sums provided will need to respect the budget ceilings agreed at Berlin in 1999, as well as the needs and the absorption capacity of the new member states.

Czech Republic

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether the Benes decrees in the Czech Republic are compatible with the acquis communautaire.

Peter Hain: The European Commission has made it clear that the Benes decrees are part of history and that those decrees relating to citizenship and property are no longer of legal consequence, and are therefore not an issue for EU accession negotiations. The Commission and Czech Republic are reviewing the other decrees to clarify their legal status.

Slovakia

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will remove the visa requirements imposed on Slovak nationals for travel to the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Winchester (Mr. Oaten) on 3 April 2002, Official Report, column 1063W.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Chartered Engineers

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many chartered engineers there are in her Department; and what grades they are.

Kim Howells: There are no chartered engineers currently employed within my Department.

ITV Digital

Tony Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the future of ITV Digital.

Tessa Jowell: In my statement on ITV Digital on 26 April 2002, Official Report, column 594, I promised that I would continue to keep the House updated in coming weeks. Since then, the administrator has surrendered the three multiplex service licences held by ITV Digital, and the pay services are no longer available.
	As I suggested would happen in my statement last week, the Independent Television Commission is now beginning a re-tendering process, on an accelerated time scale with a view to awarding licences at the end of a six-week period. I understand that, during this period, the ITC will liaise with the administrator and broadcasters providing the digital terrestrial free-to-air services with a view to ensuring that ITV Digital subscribers will continue to be able to receive these channels, including the five main terrestrial channels, through their set top box. We expect that companies interested may wish to use the ITV Digital assets, and that they will liaise with the administrator to do so. There is a real opportunity to benefit from the expertise and technical experience now existing, enabling a successful business to emerge, and ensuring we maintain our world leadership in digital television.

ITV Digital

Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what level of financial support Granada and Carlton have received from her Department for introducing digital services.

Kim Howells: My Department gives no financial support to Granada and Carlton. To promote the availability of digital free-to-air television services, the Government have set the percentage of qualifying multiplex revenue payable by digital terrestrial licensees at nil for the duration of their licences. This means that the ITV companies do not make payments to the Treasury on the proportion of their advertising revenue attributed to viewing in homes that have digital television.

Pride of Place

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many copies of "Pride of Place" have been (a) sent to end recipients and (b) sold.

Kim Howells: "Pride of Place" was released towards the end of March and the Arts Council is still sending out the 3,500 complimentary copies to projects who received awards over the past six years. No copies have as yet been sold.

West Coast Main Line

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the effect on tourism in the north-west of proposed closures of the west coast main line; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: holding answer 29 April 2002
	Any disruption of tourism will be unwelcome, but weekend closures, while disruptive to tourism, are unavoidable if essential work is to take place. Any closures are considered by Railtrack, train operating companies, the relevant rail passenger committees and the Strategic Rail Authority. I am advised the weekend closures are preferable to closures during the week which would cause wider disruption for business as well as leisure travellers. The closures have been planned to avoid the Commonwealth games. The tourism industry, like other business sectors, will be looking forward to benefiting from the main line upgrade. Improved rail services are essential to ensure the long-term health of the tourism industry in the north-west.

Solar Panels

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what buildings owned by her Department have solar panels installed.

Kim Howells: All DCMS buildings are leased rather than owned freehold and none presently has solar panels.

Sport (Female Participation)

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what action the Government are taking to increase female participation in sport.

Richard Caborn: The Government are determined to ensure that there is equal opportunity for all. Our policy is aimed at encouraging everyone, including women and girls, into sport. Sport England provides over £6 million of exchequer funding to sports governing bodies and all are required to ensure that they have proposals for the development of women as a condition of funding. Sport England also fund the Women's Sports Foundation (WSF) which is the only organisation in the UK that is solely committed to improving and promoting opportunities for women and girls in sport at every level. More women than ever are finding that regular physical exercise can lead to improvements in health, self-confidence and well-being. Women's team sports such as football and rugby are among the fastest-growing sports in the country.

Data Protection Act

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will place in the Library copies of each version of the internal guidance which have been drawn up by his Department since 1 January 1999 to assist staff in his Department to answer subject access requests under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Kim Howells: A copy of the following documents will be placed in the Library:
	Acceptable Use of E-mail and Internet Policy
	Data Protection Guidance for Personnel
	Guidance Note on Public Appointments and Subject Access
	Principles of Data Protection.

DEFENCE

RAF Benson

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many married quarters there are at RAF Benson; and how many of them are (a) under repair and (b) waiting repair;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on married quarters at RAF Benson;
	(3)  what representations he has received about relations between the Defence Housing Executive and RAF Benson.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 18 April 2002
	There are 599 family quarters at RAF Benson. Of the few that are vacant, two cannot be occupied until repairs are completed. One of the two will be converted for a special needs family.
	Approximately 42 per cent. of the properties managed by the Defence Housing Executive (DHE) have repairs raised against them at any one time. These can embrace a wide range of jobs, from major refurbishment such as re-roofing, down to the replacement of a tap washer.
	I have received no specific representations about the DHE from RAF Benson, but the DHE is aware of the need continuously to improve the service it provides to all service families. In the area in question, the DHE has changed the firm contracted to provide works service management.

Arms Sales (Africa)

Tony Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the value of arms sales to individual countries in Africa in each year since 1997.

Lewis Moonie: The data requested are set out in the table.
	
		
			   £ million 1997199819992000 Total country 
		
		
			 Egypt 0.94 0.49 2.21 7.48 11.12 
			 Morocco 0.31 0.05 0.30 0.94 1.60 
			 Tunisia 0.01 0.03 0.03 — 0.07 
			 Libya — — 0.01 — 0.01 
			 Botswana 2.96 1.65 1.71 0.74 7.06 
			 Ghana 0.14 3.39 0.01 0.19 3.73 
			 Kenya 0.02 2.15 0.48 0.54 3.19 
			 Malawi 0.02 — — — 0.02 
			 Mauritius 0.01 0.01 0.04 — 0.06 
			 South Africa 0.11 1.27 1.89 1.40 4.67 
			 Zambia 0.02 0.13 0.02 — 0.17 
			 Zimbabwe 0.22 0.05 0.06 0.04 0.37 
			 Cameroon — 0.02 — — 0.02 
			 Central African Republic — 0.01 — — 0.01 
			 Gambia — — 0.27 — 0.27 
			 Nigeria — 0.17 0.26 1.55 1.98 
			 Swaziland — 0.01 — — 0.01 
			 Tanzania — 1.51 — — 1.51 
			 Sierra Leone — — 0.37 1.06 1.43 
			  
			 Total 4.76 10.94 7.66 13.94 37.30 
		
	
	These figures are derived from table 1.13 of the Ministry of Defence publication "UK Defence Statistics 2001". The information is also published in Part III of the Government's annual report on "Strategic Export Controls". Copies of both documents are available from the Library of the House.
	Figures for 2001 are not yet available.

Parachute Training

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many training jumps from (a) balloons and (b) aircraft recruits to the Parachute Regiment are required to make as part of their training;
	(2)  what aircraft are used by the Royal Air Force to provide parachute training for recruits to the parachute regiment; and if he will make a statement on the adequacy of capacity to provide this basic training.

Adam Ingram: Recruits to the parachute regiment are required to complete a minimum of eight jumps from aircraft in order to qualify as a military parachutist. The use of balloons ceased in 1995. Basic parachute training is carried out from RAF Brize Norton and the aircraft used are a Skyvan, for an initial familiarisation jump, and a C130 Hercules, for the remaining qualifying jumps. During the last financial year, four basic parachute courses were cancelled due to Hercules aircraft unavailability, caused by operational commitments. Although this has had no effect on the ability of the regiment to carry out its assigned duties we are currently looking at how greater use of the Skyvan could reduce the Hercules requirement to support the basic parachute course to the essential minimum number of jumps that must be done from the operational platform.

Porton Down

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) titles and (b) classmarks are of documents placed in the Public Record Office by his Department since 1972 regarding an official inquiry in 1970 into allegations that the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment Porton Down had experimented on old people for germ warfare purposes; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 April 2001 Official Report, column 96W. These documents are still in the process of being transferred to the Public Record Office.

Porton Down

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what dates between 1 January 1997 and 1 January 1999 the Independent Ethics Committee overseeing human experiments at the Chemical Defence Establishment, Porton Down discussed the question of the possible long-term effects of nerve gas on humans during its meetings.

Lewis Moonie: The Independent Ethics Committee overseeing the conduct of the Service Volunteer Programme at Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Porton Down has not discussed the possible long-term effects of exposure to nerve agents during any of its meetings between 1 January 1997 and 1 January 1999.

Porton Down

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the report produced by the Chemical Defence Establishment, Porton Down in 1987 entitled 'A Quantitative Investigation into the Effects of Pupil Diameter and Defocus on Contrast Sensitivity for an Extended Range of Spatial Frequencies in Natural and Homatropinized Eyes'.

Lewis Moonie: No report with that title has been produced by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Porton Down or its predecessors. I believe the hon. Member is referring to a report published in the journal Ophthalmic Physiology Optics by a research group from the university of Glasgow (Ophthal. Physiol. Opt. Volume 7, numbers 1, 21–30, 1987).

Porton Down

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the report produced by the Chemical Defence Establishment, Porton Down in 1985 entitled 'Evaluation of Pyrodostigmine Bromide as a Pretreatment for Nerve Agent Poisoning in Man'.

Lewis Moonie: Yes.

Porton Down

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the protocol drawn up by the Chemical Defence Establishment for the experiment which was recorded in 1973 in the report entitled "A Comparative Study of Central Visual Field Changes Induced by GB Vapour and Physostigmine Salicylate Eyedrops".

Lewis Moonie: In the early 1970s formal protocols did not exist in the form which is recognised today. The details of the proposals would be recorded within the minutes of the committees overseeing the research undertaken within the Service Volunteer programme.
	I am withholding these minutes in accordance with Exemption 2b of the Code of Practice to Access to Government Information, relating to internal advice and discussion.

Porton Down

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 20 March 2002, Official Report, column 316W, regarding Porton Down, if he will place in the Library a copy of the protocol drawn up by the Chemical Defence Establishment for the experiment which was recorded in 1973 in the report entitled "The Effects of a Chemical Agent on the Eyes of Aircrew"; on what dates the Ethics Committee overseeing the human experiments at the Chemical Defence Establishment, Porton Down scrutinised this experiment; and if he will place in the Library copies of the papers of the Committee which relate to the discussion of this experiment.

Lewis Moonie: In the early 1970s formal protocols did not exist in the form which is recognised today. The details of the proposals would be recorded within the minutes of the committees overseeing the research undertaken within the Service Volunteer programme.
	The research study referred to is detailed in the minutes of the 78th meeting on 31 January 1972 of the Committee on Safety of Human Experiments. I am withholding these minutes in accordance with Exemption 2b of the Code of Practice to Access to Government Information, relating to internal advice and discussion.

Porton Down

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what dates since 1 January 1999 the Independent Ethics Committee overseeing human experiments at the Chemical Defence Establishment, Porton Down has discussed the question of the possible long-term effects of (a) mustard gas and (b) pepper gas on humans during its meetings.

Lewis Moonie: The Independent Ethics Committee overseeing the conduct of the Service Volunteer Programme at Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Porton Down has not discussed the possible long-term effects of exposure to either mustard gas or pepper gas during any of its meetings between 1 January 1997 and 1 January 1999.

Porton Down

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library copies of the documents held by his Department relating to a meeting on 5 February of representatives from his Department and the Medical Research Council Liaison Group regarding the epidemiological study into the health of service personnel who took part in experiments at the Chemical Defence Establishment, Porton Down.

Lewis Moonie: Requests for the release of papers relating to the meetings of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Liaison Group should be addressed to the MRC. The Ministry of Defence has not produced any documents relating to this meeting and holds no papers, except the invitation and meeting agenda.

Porton Down

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 17 December 2001, Official Report, column 72W, regarding Porton Down, which agencies conducted the searches of his Department's archives; what the locations were of the archives which were searched; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: Searches of the Department's archives at the Public Record Office, the Imperial War Museum, the Ministry of Defence main archive at Hayes, and documents held by MOD in London and at Porton Down, have been conducted by staff at MOD and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Porton Down.
	In addition, two signals have been sent requesting service units to search their own archives for relevant documents. The first, in February 2001, was sent to all service units world wide. The second, in April 2002, was sent to all RAF units in the United Kingdom. Both signals were sent in collaboration with the Wiltshire police as part of Operation Antler, their investigation of the Porton Down Service Volunteer programme.
	The Wiltshire police have also conducted independent searches of the Department's archives.

Primary Casualty Receiving Ship

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress with the introduction of the primary casualty receiving ship.

Lewis Moonie: Work is progressing to plan. The Ministry of Defence is considering options for meeting the requirement as part of initial assessment work. The primary casualty receiving ship capability remains on target to enter service later this decade.

Nuclear Weapons

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 23 April 2002, Official Report, column 194W, on nuclear weapons, upon what evidence he relies for his statement on the wide agreement regarding the transparency of the UK with regard to its holdings of nuclear weapons.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 30 April 2002
	Moves in the Strategic Defence Review to increase transparency on nuclear weapons issues were widely welcomed. For an instance of support for the example set by the UK in this area, I refer the hon. Member to remarks quoted by the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs in their Eighth Report of Session 1999–2000 (HC 407) at paragraph 122. Commendation of the UK's transparency was also offered by some of those giving written evidence to that inquiry.

Depleted Uranium

Nick Palmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made in developing a test for depleted uranium for Gulf and Balkans veterans; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: Contracts have been placed with five laboratories to carry out a pilot study to determine a test that will identify the presence of depleted uranium in urine. The pilot exercise will examine a number of different methods and establish whether a suitably accurate, precise and sensitive test is available. Following assessment of the results of the pilot exercise, arrangements for the main voluntary testing programme will be put in place. If a suitable test is identified, the voluntary test is likely to be available in October 2002.
	It is extremely important that the method of testing be credible to all parties. This pilot exercise is a vital step in ensuring that the correct test is chosen so that both veterans and the Ministry of Defence can have confidence in the results of the voluntary testing programme.

Prisoners (Afghanistan)

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what guidance has been issued to United Kingdom armed forces undertaking (a) Operation Jacana and (b) Operation Fingal with regard to the status of prisoners taken as part of these operations; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: Any prisoners taken by Operation Jacana forces during offensive operations will be treated as prisoners of war. Operational Fingal forces, who are part of the International Security Assistance Force providing security assistance to the Interim Administration in Kabul, are not expected to be involved in operations that may involve the taking of prisoners.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Post Offices

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the effect that Post Office redundancies will have on the communities in Lancashire; and what the Government will do to help those people who will lose their jobs.

Douglas Alexander: The Consignia board decided that the company's costs needed to be reduced to stem its losses and improve its performance. At the moment it is not immediately clear what the effect in Lancashire will be. It is understood that up to 140 jobs will eventually be affected, although it is not known at this stage how many of these will actually be job losses. The company will offer as many of those affected as possible the option of continued employment with a different part of the business or a voluntary redundancy package.
	The Government will do everything we can through the Jobcentre Plus and other agencies to provide support, assistance and new opportunities to those people losing their jobs.

Post Offices

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the effect that Post Office redundancies will have on the communities in Wales; and what the Government will do to help those people who will lose their jobs.

Douglas Alexander: The Consignia board decided that the company's costs needed to be reduced to stem its losses and improve its performance. At the moment it is not immediately clear what the effect in Wales will be. It is understood that up to 125 jobs will eventually be affected, although it is not known at this stage how many of these will actually be job losses. The company will offer as many of those affected as possible the option of continued employment with a different part of the business or a voluntary redundancy package.
	The Government will do everything we can through the Jobcentre Plus and other agencies to provide support, assistance and new opportunities to those people losing their jobs.

Post Offices

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) urban and (b) rural post offices are facing closure in Northern Ireland.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 23 April 2002
	Post office closures are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. The programme of urban restructuring has not yet begun.
	The Government are committed to the maintenance of a nationwide network of post offices. We are also committed to providing transitional assistance to rural post offices and are developing proposals in the light of advice from Postcomm.

Consignia

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether her Department has had talks with the Dutch postal company TPG in the past year.

Douglas Alexander: The Department has met representatives of the Dutch postal company, TPG, on a limited number of occasions to examine specific aspects of a possible merger of Consignia's postal activities with them. No satisfactory agreement was reached between the companies on a merger and Ministers therefore agreed with the company that discussions should cease.
	Since the Government have given Consignia commercial freedom, within the public sector, it is entirely appropriate that Consignia has been considering its commercial strategy, including the possibility of relationships or joint ventures with other operators.

Consignia

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she was notified by the management of Consignia of negotiations which have taken place within the last 12 months regarding a potential sale of an equity share in the business.

Douglas Alexander: In the last 12 months, Consignia notified the Department about its intention to explore the possibility of a merger of its postal activities with the Dutch Post Office (TPG) in June last year. Talks commenced in July but have ceased as no satisfactory agreement was reached.

Postcomm

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what negotiations have taken place with Postcomm on the sale of postal services.

Douglas Alexander: Postcomm's document "Proposals for effective competition in UK postal services" issued on 31 January has been a public consultation and the Government have consistently encouraged stakeholders to make their views known to Postcomm.
	We believe it is important now for stakeholders to engage in an effective dialogue and to reach a common understanding. This is the nature of a consultation process and we would expect Postcomm to take due account of all the views expressed and to consider their implications. We will obviously be following these discussions closely.

The Budget

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what changes the Budget of 17 April will make to business in Herefordshire.

Nigel Griffiths: I am pleased to support the Budget measures announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 17 April. I expect the Budget changes to help businesses in Herefordshire become more competitive and productive. Herefordshire has an above-average number of small businesses, which will benefit from a reduction in the starting rate of corporation tax from 10 per cent. to zero and a 10 per cent. cut in the small companies' rate; a reduction in the red tape and compliance costs imposed by the VAT and payroll administration systems; and a new £30 million training fund to bring small businesses up to the Investors in People industry standard. Further details of these measures, and of other measures to benefit businesses of all sizes, can be found on www.budget.treasury.gov.uk. The Hereford and Worcester Chamber of Commerce and Business Link (on 0800 104010) can also provide advice on the impact of the Budget on business activity.

Business Promotion (Schools)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been done since 1997 in the West Midlands to promote business in schools.

Nigel Griffiths: holding answer 24 April 2002
	Key programmes in schools include: Enterprise Insight and the Enterprising Schools initiative.
	Since 1997, activities have included getting children of primary school age to experience the world of work, and the funding of local Education Business Partnerships so that pupils could undertake work placements.
	The Excellence in Cities initiative has provided learning mentors from the world of business who act as role models when they visit schools.
	The DfES Teacher Placement Service helps teachers to spend time in industry.
	I am encouraging local successful entrepreneurs to return to their school and talk about the exciting opportunities and challenges in business.

Newspaper Supply

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  when the Office of Fair Trading will publish its response to the consultation on the review of the Newspaper Supply Code of Practice;
	(2)  how many responses the Office of Fair Trading received from (a) retailers, (b) wholesalers, (c) publishers and (d) other bodies, relating to the review on the Code of Practice for the Supply of Newspapers.

Melanie Johnson: The Director General of Fair Trading has not yet concluded his work on the review. The numbers of responses will be included when the review is published.

Sub-post Offices

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what training is available to new entrants to the sub-post office network (a) prior to them taking on a business, and (b) following the acquisition and start of that business with respect to funding by her Department.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 26 April 2002
	Training sub-postmasters is a management matter for Post Office Ltd. The small business service and business links are open to the business community including sub-postmasters.

Sub-post Offices

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had with the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 26 April 2002
	I met Colin Baker, the General Secretary of the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters on 24 April.

Motor Accident Repairs

George Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many complaints have been received by the Office of Fair Trading concerning the motor accident repair market since January 2001.

Melanie Johnson: The OFT compiles figures on the number of consumer complaints received by trading standards departments in the UK.
	19,588 complaints were received between 1 January and 30 September 2001. Later figures are not yet available.

Supermarkets

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  if she will make a statement on how each of the points in the OFT's letter of remedy on supermarket/supplier relations is met in the code of practice issued in October 2001;
	(2)  when the code of practice on supermarket relations with suppliers was issued; and on what dates between the publication of the Competition Commission's report on the subject and the issuing of codes her Ministers and officials met (a) representatives of supermarkets and (b) representatives of agricultural and horticultural producers;
	(3)  what consultation took place with (a) consumers' representatives and (b) members of the public on the code of practice on supermarket/supplier relations; whether a draft code was issued; and how many representations she received on the code (i) before and (ii) after its publication.

Melanie Johnson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry announced on 18 December 2001 that, following an adverse report by the Competition Commission under the Fair Trading Act 1973, she had accepted undertakings from the four main supermarket chains that they would abide by a Code of Practice concerning their relations with their suppliers.
	Normally undertakings are negotiated by the Director General of Fair Trading with the parties who will be asked to sign them; there is no third party involvement. Exceptionally, at the recommendation of the Competition Commission, supplier organisations were in this case given the opportunity to comment on a draft.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry received around 35 representations on the Code before it was issued on 18 December, and around five afterwards.
	The Code came into force on 17 March 2002. The Director General of Fair Trading will monitor the operation of the Code.

Motor Body Repairers

George Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many insurance company-owned motor body shop repairers there are in England and Wales.

Melanie Johnson: This information is not collected by the Department. However, according to data collected by the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMIF), there are 21 insurance company owned motor body shop repairers in England and Wales.

Motor Body Repairers

George Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many independent motor body repairers there were in England and Wales in each year since 1997.

Melanie Johnson: The information required is as follows:
	
		
			 Year Number 
		
		
			 1997 12,700 
			 1998 11,300 
			 1999 10,000 
			 2000 8,000 
			 2001 6,500 
			 2002 5,800

Golden Jubilee

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the number of employees who will not receive payment for the forthcoming Queen's Golden Jubilee bank holiday.

Alan Johnson: The autumn 2001 Labour Force Survey indicates that 17 per cent. of workers are not paid for bank holidays generally. There are no specific estimates covering the Queen's Golden Jubilee bank holiday.

TRIPs Agreement

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what plans there are to revise the WTO TRIPs agreement to allow staple food crops to be patented;
	(2)  if she will make a statement on the patenting of staple food crops.

Melanie Johnson: The TRIPs agreement allows the Governments of WTO member states to decide for themselves whether to allow the patenting of plants in their own countries. However, the agreement does require WTO member states to protect plant varieties by other legal means if patents are not available. The UK supports this flexibility in the agreement and there are no plans to remove it.
	The TRIPs agreement also confirms the internationally established principle that it is not possible to be granted a valid patent for something which is already known. According to this principle, neither traditional varieties of staple food crops nor related traditional knowledge can be patentable in themselves, even in countries where the patenting of plants is allowed.

EU Trade

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of the United Kingdom's (a) visible and (b) invisible imports come from the European Union; and what their value was in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Patricia Hewitt: According to information published by the Office for National Statistics on 27 March 2002, in 2001 the EU accounted for 52 per cent. of UK imports of goods and 53 per cent. of UK imports of services. UK imports of goods from the EU were worth £115.5 billion while UK imports of services from the EU were worth £34.5 billion.

EU Trade

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportions of the United Kingdom's (a) visible and (b) invisible exports go to the European Union; and what their value was in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Patricia Hewitt: According to information published by the Office for National Statistics on 27 March 2002, in 2001 the EU accounted for 58 per cent. of UK exports of goods and 40 per cent. of UK exports of services. UK exports of goods to the EU were worth £110.8 billion while UK exports of services to the EU were worth £31.0 billion.

EU Structural Funds

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proposals the Government are putting to the European Commission on structural funds in the European Union for its third report on structural funds.

Alan Johnson: The Government have not yet put any formal proposals to the European Commission for its Third Report on Economic and Social Cohesion, which is not due to be published until late 2003 or early 2004. However, from my statement at the Namur Informal Council on Regional Policy in July 2001, the Commission will be aware of the Government's view that the next reform of the Structural Funds must ensure that they contribute better to the Lisbon agenda of improving Europe's competitiveness and modernising its economies. Improvements are needed in both the effectiveness of the funds and the means to evaluate their impact and added value. Also, greater efforts must be made to simplify the funds and remove unnecessary bureaucracy, while maintaining proper financial control.

EU Enlargement

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans the Government have to inform (a) business and (b) the public about the implications of EU enlargement for the United Kingdom.

Patricia Hewitt: EU enlargement is vital to the future peace, prosperity and strength of Europe and will directly benefit the British public and business. My Department has published papers on EU enlargement for British business, such as "EU Enlargement and the Single Market: Opportunities for Business" published in September 2000, which focused both on the enlargement process and the commercial opportunities. I have placed a copy in the Libraries of the House. As well as regular contacts between my officials and business players, we are planning, in conjunction with the FCO, an expanded programme of activities for 2002, including speaking events, newsletters and a new enlargement section on DTI's website.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office lead on the wider public diplomacy strategy, aimed at informing the British public about EU enlargement. They provide general information on enlargement through publications like "Britain: A Champion of EU Enlargement", their website and by providing speakers for and organising events.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Sixth Forms and Colleges

Alan Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many A-level pass certificates were awarded to students in (a) sixth forms in mainstream schools and (b) colleges of further education in England in each year from 1995 to 2001;
	(2)  how many students completed A-level courses at (a) sixth forms in mainstream schools and (b) colleges of further education in England and Wales in each year from 1995 to 2001.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested for England is shown in the table.
	
		
			  (a) Mainstream schools (b) FE sector colleges 
		
		
			  Number of 17-year-olds entered for GCE A-levels 
			 1994–95 89,868 54,284 
			 1995–96 91,796 57,636 
			 1996–97 100,281 62,308 
			 1997–98 105,855 62,582 
			 1998–99 106,857 60,328 
			 1999–2000 108,134 59,168 
			 2000–01 111,141 59,133 
			  Number of GCE A-levels resulting in a pass(8) 
			 1994–95 231,709 122,603 
			 1995–96 247,198 133,503 
			 1996–97 274,574 149,929 
			 1997–98 293,596 153,805 
			 1998–99 298,692 151,447 
			 1999–2000 303,762 150,627 
			 2000–01 314,274 157,179 
		
	
	(8) Grades A-E
	The information for schools and colleges in Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

Education Statistics

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what corrections have been made to the Statistics of Education in England (a) 1999, (b) 2000 and (c) 2001 editions; if she will list the tables that needed correcting with amendments after each of the volumes were published; and what steps were taken to notify those who received the volumes of such corrections.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 19 March 2002
	No errata were issued in 1999, 2000 or 2001 for the following volumes:
	Local Labour Force Survey
	Public Examinations GCSE/GNVQ and GCE/AGNVQ in England
	Student Support England and Wales
	Higher Education Statistics in the UK
	National Curriculum Assessments of 7, 11 and 14-year-olds by local education authority. Education Statistics for the United Kingdom
	In 1999 and 2001 there were typographical errors in the volume titled, "Education Statistics for the United Kingdom" and in 2000 there were errors with three single figures. These referred to time series data. The first was in table 2.1 (1990–91 figures), the second in table 3.1 (1998–99 figures) and the third in table 3.24 (1995 figures).
	No erratum notes were issued for these errors. They were, however, noted and corrected in the volume the following year.
	Schools in England
	In 1999 there was an error in the Schools in England volume on table 12. The column listing the pupils' ages was incorrectly labelled for the three and four-year-olds. No erratum was issued.
	There were no amendments to the volume for 2000.
	In the 2001 volume, tables 13, 36, 47a, 47b and 48 contain incorrect data. This was due to a programming error which was not identified until after the volume was published. A note has been placed on the DfES Statistical website informing customers of the errors. Teachers in England
	There were several errors detected in the "Teachers in England 2001" volume as follows:
	General:
	There are no footnotes stating that totals may vary due to rounding.
	Tables 7(i), (ii) and (iii):
	The total rows for men and for women (though not for men and women) have not been correctly tabbed, so that they appear in the wrong columns
	Table 12:
	The calculation of the London turnover and wastage rates originally used an incorrect definition of Inner and Outer London. The actual figures differ slightly from those published.
	Table 14:
	The 1999 entry for Education elsewhere: Qualified teachers currently reads 3060, whereas it should read 3950
	Table 24:
	The headings on the right hand page (53) are the same as those on the left, and need correcting as follows:
	
		
			 Existing heading Required heading 
		
		
			 Education Social studies 
			 Medicine Language studies 
			 Technology Arts other than languages 
			 Agriculture Music, drama and visual arts 
			 Mathematics Other 
			 Other Science Total all subjects 
		
	
	Table 25:
	The left table (p. 54) has the sub-headings 'Special and PRU' and 'Total'. The right table (continued) headings should correspond: they currently read 'Special' and 'All Sectors'. Some of the sub-headings in the right table are not in bold.
	Table 39:
	The left table (p. 72) has the sub-heading 'Special and PRU'. The right table (continued) heading should correspond: it currently reads 'Special'.
	Table 48:
	The title should read Retirements: Type of award by last known sector of service and grade: 2000–01 rather than . . . grade: 1999–2000.
	These volumes are issued by the Stationery Office rather than the Department. Corrected version can be downloaded free of charge from the Department's website.

Teenage Pregnancies

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of girls excluded from full-time education were pregnant, broken down by regions in each of the last 10 years.

Ivan Lewis: Information on the number of pregnant girls excluded from school is not collected centrally.

Public-private Partnnerships

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  for what reason she rejected Surrey county council's PPP application;
	(2)  if she will list the local education authorities which received backing from her Department for PPP schemes in the past 12 months; and for what purpose those applications were made;
	(3)  if she will list the LEAs which have applied for PPP funding in the past 12 months, and the purposes for which those applications were made.

John Healey: The application from Surrey local education authority (LEA) for PFI credits in 2003–04 was not supported as it did not meet the criteria, as set out in the guidance issued to LEAs on 31 July 2001, to the same extent as those applications from other authorities which were supported. Officials from the Department are arranging to meet with officers from Surrey LEA to provide detailed feedback and to explore how the application might be strengthened for future years.
	Details of those authorities that were prioritised for provisional PFI credit support were announced in a Press Notice on 26 March, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
	53 bids were received in the recent PFI capital round, with a total value of over £3 billion and an average value of over £56 million. In exercises of this nature, there are inevitably some worthwhile potential projects which do not receive funding. However, officials from the Department are responding to requests for advice on how these applications can be strengthened for the future. It would incur disproportionate costs to provide details of every LEA which applied for funding, successful or otherwise, and the full purposes of their applications.

Teachers' Pay

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what cost of living allowances will be paid, over and above basic salaries, to teachers in (a) Surrey and (b) London in this financial year.

Stephen Timms: Teachers working in inner London, outer London and the London fringe areas are paid mandatory London allowances at the following values:
	Inner London: £3,105
	Outer London: £2,043
	Fringe: £792.
	Teachers working at schools in inner London, and the outer London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Brent, Ealing, Haringey, Merton, and Newham receive the inner London allowance. Teachers working in all other outer London boroughs receive the outer London allowance. Teachers in all areas of Surrey outside the metropolitan area receive the fringe allowance.
	In addition, schools may pay recruitment and retention allowances to individual teachers of up to £5,262 per annum.

Recruitment

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to encourage entry into the teaching profession in areas where the cost of living is high.

Stephen Timms: The Government have introduced a number of measures, including training bursaries and "golden hellos", to boost teacher recruitment nationally. These are already having an effect, and there are nearly 10,000 more teachers in post now compared to January 2001—the largest increase in a single year since the 1970s.
	We have also reformed the teachers' pay system to ensure that those teachers who perform well are well rewarded. The introduction of the threshold for experienced teachers, leading to the upper pay scale, has provided a career structure which will allow our best classroom teachers, in time, to earn over £32,000 at today's rates, excluding additional allowances. And we have implemented cost of living pay rises at above inflation rates for all teachers in each of the last four years.
	All teachers working in the London area are paid mandatory London allowances on top of their basic salary. These allowances were increased last year by 30 per cent. and are currently inner—£3,105; outer—£2,043; and fringe—£792. In addition, schools are able to pay recruitment and retention allowances to individual teachers of up to £5,262 per annum. Schools can decide to pay this as a lump sum covering up to three years.
	It is open to local authorities to help teachers with housing, relocation and travel costs through the Recruitment and Retention Fund established by my Department. We have made £77 million available to 2003 for this purpose. And we have made £250 million available to 2004 to help key public sector workers, particularly nurses, teachers and police, to buy homes in or near the communities they serve through our starter home initiative scheme.

South Middlesbrough Academy

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to the answer of 11 April 2002, Official Report, column 519W, what conditions have been attached to the sponsorship by Sir Peter Vardy of the proposed South Middlesbrough Academy.

Stephen Timms: We understand that the sponsors have agreed with Middlesbrough LEA that the City Academy should have a Christian ethos and serve pupils aged 11–18. The proposals that the partnership have developed reflect those preferences.

Specialist Status Schools

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the targets agreed by Sir John Cass's Foundation Redcoat School, London borough of Tower Hamlets local education authority, at the time of its acquisition of specialist status, identifying those not yet achieved.

Stephen Timms: Sir John Cass's Foundation Redcoat School has been operating as a language college since September 2000. The information requested is being collated. I will therefore write to the hon. Member as soon as possible giving a full reply to the question raised.

Specialist Status Schools

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the targets agreed by Millais School, West Sussex local education authority, at the time of its acquisition of specialist status, identifying those not yet achieved.

Stephen Timms: Millais School has been operating as a language college since September 1996. The information requested is being collated. I will therefore write to the hon. Member as soon as possible giving a full reply to the question raised.

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the (a) new requirements placed on and (b) requirements removed from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in the last year for which information is available.

Stephen Timms: New requirements placed on HM Chief Inspector of Schools during the financial year which ended on 31 March 2002 were as follows:
	to inspect and report at specified intervals on educational provision for students up to age 19 in further education colleges, education or training for 16 to 19-year-olds provided outside the further education sector which is wholly or partly funded by the Learning and Skills Council for England, the Connexions service, and training of teachers or lecturers of further education funded by the Learning and Skills Council for England or Higher Education Funding Council for England;
	to conduct area-wide inspections of education and training for 16 to 19-year-olds and report on them, taking account where appropriate of the views of the Chief Inspector for Adult Learning; with the Adult Learning Inspectorate, to agree and publish a Common Inspection Framework; to conduct inspections jointly with the Adult Learning Inspectorate where the education or training to be inspected falls within both inspectorates' remits;
	to keep the Secretary of State informed about quality, standards and management in the education and training brought within his remit by section 60 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000 and, on request by the Secretary of State, to provide advice about that education and training or inspect and report on any education or training within his extended remit;
	to state whether he agrees with a registered inspector's judgment that a school has an inadequate sixth form;
	to regulate child minding and day care provision under the Children Act 1989, including registration of providers and securing the inspection of registered child minders and day care providers at specified intervals;
	to keep the Secretary of State informed about quality and standards of child minding and day care provision and provide advice about that provision as requested by the Secretary of State; and
	to include an account of the exercise of those functions transferred to him under the Care Standards Act 2000 in his annual report.
	During that period, HM Chief Inspector's responsibilities in respect of adult and community education provided by local education authorities were transferred to the Adult Learning Inspectorate.

Sector Skills Councils

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what steps she is taking to ensure that delays in the establishment of sector skills councils do not result in the loss of key staff of national training organisations to the training sector;
	(2)  when (a) the sector skills councils for the construction, engineering and hospitality sectors and (b) all sector skills councils will be fully operational.

John Healey: The ending of Government recognition of national training organisations (NTOs) and the licensing of sector skills councils are separate issues. Organisations formerly with NTO status are independent bodies led by employers, often with responsibilities wider than those which were required for NTO recognition. The continued funding and operation of these organisations is therefore a decision for the board of each body. New contracts have been awarded by my Department to 62 former NTOs from April 2002 for the delivery of specific essential work in support of occupational development. These contracts will conclude on 31 August 2002. The new Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA), working with other public agencies, will make arrangements for the delivery of essential work to support occupational development from September 2002.
	Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) represent a new deal with employers across the UK to improve skills and productivity performance in significant industry and business sectors. SSCs provide the opportunity for collective action by employers, in partnership and with the support of Government, to identify sector skills priorities and lead action to meet them. There is no timetable for introducing the new network as the decision to form a SSC rests with employers. Where employers want to form a SSC, and can meet the published SSC standard for the award of a licence, my Department will supplement employers' investment by contributing up to £1 million each year to support the Council's core work.
	Employers in the construction, engineering and hospitality sectors have yet to make a formal expression of interest to the SSDA about forming a SSC for their sectors. Informal discussions have been taking place and formal expressions of interest from these sectors are expected in the next few weeks when invited by the SSDA.

Barcelona European Council

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what resources have been allocated to implement the conclusions for education made by the Barcelona European Council in March; and what timetable has been set for the implementation of the Council's proposals for (a) ensuring transparency of diplomas and qualifications, (b) the teaching of at least two foreign languages from a very early age, (c) the establishment of internet twinning with partner schools in Europe and (d) the promotion of the European dimension in education.

Ivan Lewis: Work is already underway to take forward the Barcelona conclusions on education:
	(a) The UK higher education sector is taking forward work on credit transfer and progress files to ensure transparency of diplomas and other qualifications. This is part of the Bologna process, which aims to build a new European higher education area by 2010. The UK National Academic Recognition Information Centre, part of a European-wide network, exists to offer clear advice on mutual recognition and comparability of all higher education awards.
	EU member states are also working together on a broad strategy to make vocational qualifications better understood across Europe. The strategy includes work on certificate supplements and developing a common format for CVs for mobile workers to use if they wish to. We are funding the National Reference Point on Vocational Qualifications in Cheltenham to pilot work this year and next to test the Certificate Supplement approach.
	(b) We support the aspiration to improve opportunities for language learning. Currently we are developing a national language strategy that will identify what we need to deliver and how we will deliver it, taking account of resources available and our existing policy commitments. The strategy will be published in the autumn. Currently language learning is a requirement for all 11–16 year olds. Our ambition is that all primary school children will be entitled to study languages by 2012.
	(c) The European Commission is undertaking a feasibility study to identify options for helping secondary schools to establish or enhance an internet twinning link. The Commission will report to the Seville Council in June, and we expect decisions about implementation to be taken by the Council in the light of the options identified.
	(d) Pupils in England are already taught about Europe and the European Union at secondary school. They are taught about the history of Britain in its European and wider context within National Curriculum History. They will learn about the world as a global community, the role of the European Union and the UK's relations in Europe, including the European Union in National Curriculum Citizenship as a statutory National Curriculum subject in secondary schools this September. We have spent just over £1 million to date to support the production of resource materials for teaching citizenship and we will spend about £500,000 in 2002–03.

Teacher Vacancies

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to her Department's publication of figures relating to teacher vacancies, how many vacancies there are at Key Stages (a) one and two and (b) three and four.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 30 April 2002
	The information is not available in the form requested. In January 2002 there were 1,700 vacant teacher posts in maintained primary schools and 2,440 vacant teacher posts in maintained secondary schools in England. These figures are provisional.
	The vacancies recorded had been advertised and were for full-time permanent appointments or full-time appointments of at least one term's duration, which existed at the survey date and which the local education authority or school concerned intended to or had unsuccessfully attempted to fill.

Teacher Vacancies

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers left the profession in each of the last five years, broken down by the reason given for leaving.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 30 April 2002
	The numbers of teachers leaving regular full or part time service in the maintained schools sector in England were as follows. The latest provisional data available are for 31 March 2000.
	
		
			   1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 
		
		
			 Age retirement 1,900 1,700 1,900 1,900 2,300 
			 Ill health retirement 4,600 4,800 3,400 2,300 2,300 
			 Premature retirement 8,600 10,300 11,200 3,800 4,300 
			 Other leavers 20,300 18,800 22,500 23,600 26,100 
			  
			 Total 35,400 35,600 39,000 31,600 34,900 
		
	
	Many of the teachers leaving the profession in these years will come back into service.
	Some 10 per cent. to 20 per cent. of part-timers are not recorded on the Teachers' Pension Scheme, from which the data are obtained.

Teaching Pay Initiative

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if funding for the teaching pay initiative will continue beyond 2003–04.

Margaret Hodge: TPI is an important initiative designed to help modernise FE Pay arrangements and recruit and reward teachers as part of the drive to improve teaching and learning. I recognise that it is an ongoing commitment for colleges and funding will continue beyond 2003–04. Many colleges have felt able to consolidate TPI payments and I hope others will follow suit.

Young People's Services

Phil Hope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how the Government promotes innovation in services for young people.

John Denham: I have been asked to reply.
	Promoting innovation is a key element of the Government's agenda for the modernisation of public services. Through partnerships between the statutory, voluntary and community sectors in initiatives such as the Children's Fund, Sure Start, Early Years and Childcare Partnerships and Quality Protects we are bringing new experience and innovative thinking to the delivery of services for children and young people and we are committed to mainstreaming these approaches.
	Central to this approach is listening to the views of young people and involving them in service design, implementation and evaluation. The Government's core principles for the involvement of children and young people, published by the Children and Young People's Unit, will help ensure that the contribution of young people continues to bring new thinking and innovation into services designed to meet their needs.

TRANSPORT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE REGIONS

Bed and Breakfast Accommodation

Jack Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many children under 16 are living in bed and breakfast accommodation; what steps are being taken to reduce the numbers of children living in bed and breakfast accommodation; and what steps he has taken to increase the supply of affordable accommodation.

Stephen Byers: Information relating to the number of children aged under 16 living in bed and breakfast is not collected centrally. However we estimate that there are 6,500 homeless households with children living in B&B accommodation.
	I recently announced a £35 million programme to reduce the number of homeless families with children in B&B hotels. Changes have also been made to housing benefit subsidy arrangements, worth an estimated £10 million, to encourage authorities to place homeless households in self-contained temporary accommodation. The Bed and Breakfast Unit is working with authorities with high levels of B&B use to produce individual action plans to ensure that, by March 2004, homeless families with children are placed in B&B hotels only in emergencies, and even then for a maximum of 6 weeks.
	My Department has significantly increased funding for new affordable housing. Investment through the Housing Corporation will rise to over £1.2 billion by 2003–04, almost double 2000–01 levels. This will help deliver our target of 100,000 new affordable homes by 2004, and we will ensure these funds are distributed more in line with local and regional priorities so that investment matches local needs.
	We are also providing £250 million through the Starter Home Initiative to help some 10,000 key workers in high demand areas to purchase a home.
	In addition, the Affordable Housing Unit is working closely with partners and stakeholders to increase delivery of affordable housing in high demand areas across the country over the next three years and to contribute to longer term thinking on the development of new housing capacity.

Planning

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his policy is on the number of times an applicant can delay consideration of a planning appeal.

Sally Keeble: It is our policy that all parties to an appeal should be discouraged from delaying its consideration. On 1 August 2000 revised statutory procedures were introduced to speed up the handling of planning appeals by inquiry, hearing, and written representations and enforce the stricter deadlines in the procedures. Where an inquiry is to be held the Planning Inspectorate's aim, in every case, is to fix as early an inquiry date as possible. Each principal party to an appeal is only permitted one refusal of a date offered for the inquiry before a date, time and place for the inquiry is fixed.

Right to Buy

Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 22 April 2002, Official Report, column 46W, on right to buy, who has been commissioned to undertake the research projects into the right to buy scheme; what the terms of reference are of each project; and when work on each will be completed.

Sally Keeble: The information is as follows:
	(i) the impact of the February 1999 changes to limits on right to buy discounts:
	undertaken by a team from the universities of Bristol and Birmingham:
	to examine the effect of the reduction (from £50,000 to £22,000-£38,000 varying by region) in the maximum cash limit on the RTB discount that came into force in February 1999 and to estimate the likely effects of further changes in the RTB discount:
	expected completion date: July 2002.
	(ii) exploitation of the right to buy scheme by companies:
	undertaken by Heriot-Watt university:
	to examine the scale, nature and impact of the misuse of the right to buy policy by companies:
	expected completion date: November 2002.
	(iii) a review of the system for valuing properties for right to buy purposes:
	undertaken by College of Estate Management:
	to examine the variation in valuations of RTB properties by local authorities and by the Valuation Office Agency, identifying the criteria and procedures used and the appeals process and attempt to explain any variances between valuations of the same properties:
	expected completion date: June 2003.

Construction Industry

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the cost will be to small businesses within the construction industry of complying with self-certification schemes following the introduction of the Building (Amendment) Regulations 2002.

Alan Whitehead: The four new schemes recognised in the regulations are voluntary, and offer small businesses the opportunity, should they wish to take it up, to save money through not having to go through local authority building control. This is particularly important in relation to replacement glazing where as a result of changes we made to Part L of the regulations—that part dealing with the conservation of fuel and power, it became controlled fitting and subject to building control.
	The Fenestration Self Assessment Scheme (FENSA) was introduced to ease the burden of this change. We estimate that the typical cost of going through local authority building control for replacement glazing would be about £120 for a contract with a value of less than £2,000. Overall we have estimated the cost of not introducing self-certification to be £106,400,000 in the first year, and the overall financial benefit to be £104,685,000.

Replacement Windows

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions in relation to statutory instrument No. 440, regulation 16A, what assessment he has made of the direct cost to individual house owners when they install replacement windows; what consultation has taken place over the introduction of this regulation; what requirements there will be to demonstrate compliance on the sale of a house; how home owners will be able to prove that windows were installed before commencement of the instrument on 1 April; what steps he will take to publicise these regulations widely; and whether notices will be sent to relevant (a) retailers, (b) builders and (c) merchants.

Alan Whitehead: From the figures in the regulatory impact analysis we undertook prior to making statutory instrument No. 440, we estimate that the average saving per window installation contract would be around £117 compared to using local authority building control. In relation to consultation I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on Tuesday 23 April 2002, to my hon. Friend the Member for Crosby (Mrs. Curtis-Thomas), Official Report, columns 179W-80W.
	There will be no requirement to demonstrate compliance with these regulations prior to the sale of a house. However, prior to the sale of a property, a search may reveal that the installation of a window has taken place without either the issue of a certificate from a person registered with the Fenestration Self-Assessment Scheme (FENSA), or evidence of a building notice given to a local authority. This though is highly unlikely to prevent the sale of a house, although in some circumstances it could delay the process. Householders would be advised in any event to keep receipts and other such records necessary to ensure a smooth transition during the sale of any property. In relation to publicity, I am pleased with the level of public awareness in relation to the changes so far. However, I will keep the situation under review and if there is evidence that more publicity is required, we shall provide it. I do not, at this stage, see any need for direct mailing of merchants, builders or retailers.

Millennium Dome

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what stage negotiations have reached with Meridian Delta on the sale of the Millennium Dome; when negotiations will be completed; and if he will make a statement.

Sally Keeble: The negotiations with Meridian Delta Ltd are on course to reach a conclusion in May.

Playing Fields

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to require local planning authorities to inform (a) his Department and (b) the DCMS monitoring group on playing field sales of the outcome of all applications to build on playing fields.

Sally Keeble: holding answer 23 April 2002
	All local planning authority decisions are currently placed on the planning register and are open to public inspection. The Minister for Sport and I propose to invite Sport England to conduct a periodic survey of the outcome of those planning applications for development affecting playing fields to establish the outcome in those cases where Sport England has objected to the planning application.

Low Demand Housing

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions which wards of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne are included in the pathfinders study of housing in low demand.

Sally Keeble: The proposed intervention area for the Tyneside pathfinder project has not yet been confirmed but is being discussed with the local authorities concerned. I would also expect the local authorities concerned to consult the relevant Members of this House.

Local Authority Debt

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much residual debt has been written off in each of the local authorities where housing stock transfers have taken place.

Sally Keeble: The overhanging debt payments made to date are £21 million in respect of Burnley borough council, £78.9 million in respect of Blackburn with Darwen borough council, £64.59 million in respect of Calderdale metropolitan borough council and £111.68 million in respect of Coventry city council.

Local Council Elections

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he expects to lay regulations enabling local authorities to switch to alternative year elections where they have reduced the number of councillors representing wards from three to two.

Alan Whitehead: holding answer 29 April 2002
	In the White Paper, "Strong Local Leadership—Quality Public Services" the Government said that they would invite the Electoral Commission to propose options to simplify the current cycle of local elections. Meanwhile, we will, before the summer recess make regulations under Part IV of the Local Government Act 2000 to introduce elections by halves in a number of authorities that following periodic electoral reviews have two-member wards, and have requested such a change.

Local Government Finance

Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he will take to ensure that the new finance system for local authorities provides an effective framework within which councils can initiate new and innovative ways of delivering customer-focused services and lead their communities.

Nick Raynsford: Our comprehensive agenda for reform of the local government finance system was set out in last December's White Paper "Strong Local leadership—Quality Public Services". Our finance reforms will give councils more space to innovate and respond in ways that are appropriate to local circumstances by providing local authorities with greater freedom to borrow, invest, trade, charge and set spending priorities. Our White Paper implementation plan is available on the DTLR website at http://www.dtlr.gov.uk/local-regions/sll/implement/plan/ index.htm.

Local Government Finance

Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what total external support is received in 2002–03 by (a) local authorities covering the Waverley area and (b) the unitary authority of Bracknell.

Nick Raynsford: Local authorities have reported the following information.
	
		Total external support, 2002–03 -- £ million
		
			Waverley Area Bracknell Forest UA area  
			Waverley Surrey County Council Surrey Police Authority(9) Bracknell Forest Unitary Authority Thames Valley Police Authority(10) 
		
		
			 Revenue support grant 0.579 143.921 1.525 22.784 24.425 
			 Redistributed non-domestic rates 4.866 287.019 26.916 34.180 52.997 
			 Ring-fenced grants inside AEF(11) 0.174 102.080 5.257 9.139 n/a 
			 Police grant 0 0 54.443 0 122.387 
			 Total revenue support 5.619 533.020 88.141 66.103 n/a 
			   
			 Basic credit approvals 0 35.604 0 0.116 0 
			 Supplementary credit approvals 0 11.614 n/a 11.614 3.152 
			 Grants from central Government 0.299 9.479 n/a 2.522 0 
			 National lottery 0 0 n/a 0.071 0 
			 Total capital support 0.299 56.697 n/a 14.323 3.152 
			  
			 Total external support 5.918 589.717 n/a 80.426 n/a 
		
	
	n/a = not available
	(9) Surrey Police Authority have not yet returned their capital estimates return form.
	(10) Thames Valley Police Authority have not yet returned their general fund revenue account form.
	(11) Aggregate external finance (AEF) is central Government support towards total standard spending. It comprises revenue support grant, redistributed non-domestic rates, and certain ring-fenced grants.
	Sources:
	2002–03 General Fund Revenue Account and Capital Estimates returns
	Local Government Finance Final Settlement

Disability Facilities

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the reports he receives from local councils on the use of the financial support which he gives for disability facilities grants.

Sally Keeble: Local authorities provide returns to the Department on their total annual expenditure on Disabled Facilities Grant. The Department pays a grant to each local authority to cover 60 per cent. of their expenditure. Figures showing the Government's grant allocations and local authorities' expenditure over the last five years were placed in the Libraries of the House in January.
	Local authorities do not provide detailed information to the Department on the type of housing adaptations supported by the programme but as part of the annual Housing Investment Programme Review, Government offices for the regions will review local authorities' performance in managing the DFG programme.

Electronic Voting

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions by what means, when voting electronically, a voter can ascertain whether his vote has been recorded and counted.

Alan Whitehead: The arrangements being piloted for electronic voting provide for voters to receive electronic confirmatory messages when their votes have been successfully received.

Electronic Voting

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  when he will notify applicants for electronic votes in the May elections whether their proposals have been authorised;
	(2)  in which areas he is considering applications for electronic voting in May;
	(3)  what the latest date is by which he will consider applications for electronic voting in May.

Alan Whitehead: In October 2001, local authorities were invited to apply by 31 December to run electoral pilots in the May 2002 local elections. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and the Regions announced on 5 February 2002, Official Report, columns 829–31W, those authorities whose pilots had been approved. On 13 February 2002, Official Report, column 402W, he announced the approval of one further authority.

Electronic Voting

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what arrangements will be in place to prevent personation of persons voting electronically.

Alan Whitehead: Within the electronic voting pilots there are a range of measures in place to guard against impersonation. This will include the use of voter specific PIN numbers and passwords and real time electronic registers to cast and record votes. The systems will also prevent an electronic vote being cast where the PIN number and password have been used previously.

National Insurance

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the cost to (a) county councils, (b) district councils and (c) borough councils of the 1 per cent. increase in employers' national insurance contributions.

Alan Whitehead: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Andrew Turner) on Monday 29 April 2002, Official Report, column 544W.

Disabled Access

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what adjustments have been made to his Department's premises following the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995; and what the cost of these adjustments was as a proportion of the Department's budget.

Alan Whitehead: holding answer 29 April 2002
	Records of expenditure relating to adjustments made to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) are not, as a matter of course, held separately across the DTLR estate. In some instances DDA related adjustments have been carried out by landlords, and in others as part of on-going maintenance works.
	In the DTLR headquarter buildings £217,000 (excluding VAT) has been spent on improvements following a review by specialist advisers on accessibility.
	As a comprehensive record of DDA related expenditure is not available, it is not possible to express this as a percentage of DTLR's budget.

Recruitment

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many net additional staff his Department has recruited in each month since June 2001 at (a) executive officer level and (b) administrative level.

Alan Whitehead: The following table provides the figures requested.
	
		
			   Administrative level  Executive officer level  
			 Type of staff FTE Headcount FTE Headcount 
		
		
			 June 2001 
			 Casual 6.68 7.00 — — 
			 Permanent -1.65 -1.00 4.00 4.00 
			 Total 5.03 6.00 4.00 4.00 
			  
			 July 2001 
			 Casual 6.00 6.00 1.00 1.00 
			 Permanent 16.00 16.00 — — 
			 Total 22.00 22.00 1.00 1.00 
			  
			 August 2001 
			 Casual -4.00 -4.00 — — 
			 Permanent 4.65 4.00 5.00 5.00 
			 Total 0.65 — 5.00 5.00 
			 September 2001 
			 Casual 3.00 3.00 1.00 1.00 
			 Permanent 7.35 8.00 -2.00 -2.00 
			 Total 10.35 11.00 -1.00 -1.00 
			  
			 October 2001 
			 Casual -2.00 -2.00 2.00 2.00 
			 Permanent 5.00 5.00 3.00 3.00 
			 Total 3.00 3.00 5.00 5.00 
			 November 2001 
			 Casual 6.00 6.00 -2.00 -2.00 
			 Permanent 8.00 8.00 -2.25 -2.00 
			 Total 14.00 14.00 -4.25 -4.00 
			  
			 December 2001 
			 Casual — — 1.00 1.00 
			 Permanent 2.00 2.00 7.00 7.00 
			 Total 2.00 2.00 8.00 8.00 
			  
			 January 2002 
			 Casual 5.00 5.00 1.00 1.00 
			 Permanent 1.00 1.00 12.00 12.00 
			 Total 6.00 6.00 13.00 13.00 
			  
			 February 2002 
			 Casual -2.00 -2.00 — — 
			 Permanent 3.00 3.00 3.78 4.00 
			 Total 1.00 1.00 3.78 4.00 
			  
			 March 2002 
			 Casual -2.41 -3.00 — — 
			 Permanent 6.00 6.00 18.00 18.00 
			 Total 3.59 3.00 18.00 18.00 
			  
			 April 2002 
			 Casual 3.00 3.00 1.00 1.00 
			 Permanent 19.73 20.00 22.54 23.00 
			 Total 22.73 23.00 23.54 24.00

Complaints

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many complaints were registered against his Department and its predecessor Departments in (a) 1990 to 1996 and (b) 1997 to 2002; how many are current; and what proportion were (i) taken up and (ii) upheld by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration in those periods.

Alan Whitehead: holding answer 19 April 2002
	Complaints and suggestions may be received at many different points in the organisation and it is the Department's policy to address these as near to the point of delivery and as soon as possible. Central records are not kept of the number of complaints.
	Figures relating to PCA investigations against the Department (including its predecessor Departments) between 1990 and 2002 are set out in the table:
	
		
			  1990 to 1996 1997 to 2002 
		
		
			 Complaints taken up by PCA 108 71 
			 Complaints upheld by PCA 63 31 
			 Outstanding cases 0 8

Public Transport Workers (Assaults)

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what action the Government have take since 1997 to protect (a) bus workers and (b) other public transport staff from assaults at work.

Sally Keeble: Since 1997 the Department has produced a number of good practice guidance documents for transport operators on what actions they can take to protect their staff from assaults at work. The guidance covers the training of staff, the recording and monitoring of incidents, and management practices which could help staff who have been assaulted. For example, earlier this month we published guidance and a good practice case studies report on improving personal security in bus travel for passengers and staff.
	The Health and Safety Commission has agreed a three year programme of work (2000–03) to help employers from all sectors tackle the increasing problem of work- related violence. The Health and Safety Executive is responsible for taking the programme forward.
	More generally, the Government are taking action to reduce all violent crime through a number of measures, based on a concerted strategy of targeted policing, effective punishment and interventions to address the underlying conditions which breed violence.

Public Transport Workers (Assaults)

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what proposals he has to ban members of the public from using public transport if they assault staff.

Sally Keeble: Powers are already available to individual transport operators and the criminal justice system to ban those convicted of violence while using public transport systems from using public transport.

Channel Tunnel

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he is taking to ensure that rail freight facilities through the channel tunnel return to the pre-November 2001 levels.

David Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Transport to the hon. Member for Hamilton, South (Mr. Tynan) on 18 April 2002, Official Report, column 1170W.

Track Safety Certificates

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 24 April, ref. 52041, about Railtrack's random checks of personal track safety certificates, what action is taken (a) by Railtrack and (b) by railway employers in the 2 per cent. of cases where staff do not hold a valid certificate; and what action is being taken to reduce the percentage of staff without a valid certificate.

David Jamieson: Railtrack advise that they carry out a series of comprehensive spot checks every three months and supplement this with additional random spot checks. Railtrack log all the information they receive and use it to monitor the provision of staff by agencies and contractors. If anyone does not hold the correct accreditation they are removed immediately from site.

Croxley Rail Link

Claire Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the progress of the proposals for the Croxley Rail Link.

Sally Keeble: I am pleased that this proposal has satisfied the economic appraisal set by the Department. The issues yet to be resolved are to do with its deliverability. My officials are expecting a paper on these issues from Hertfordshire county council's consultants shortly. We recognise the importance of the Croxley Rail Link and look forward to making progress on this scheme.

Railways

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what discussions the Government have had with (a) Connex South Eastern and (b) other rail operators to discuss the extension of services during the night.

David Jamieson: Any such proposal would be a matter for the train operating companies to take forward with the Strategic Rail Authority.

Deep-sea Port Traffic

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the level of deep-sea port traffic expressed in containers per annum has been in each of the last 10 years.

Stephen Byers: Information on the numbers of containers entering or leaving the UK that were transported from or to deep-sea ports (excluding Europe and the Mediterranean) in each of the last 10 years to 2000 is published in "Maritime Statistics" annual reports for the years 1991 to 2000 inclusive, which are produced by my Department. Copies of these reports are held in the Libraries of the House.

Roads (Gloucestershire)

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what additional resources he will make available to Gloucestershire county council to maintain the A40 following de-trunking; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Mr. Tim Matthews, to write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Tim Matthews to Nigel Jones dated 1 May 2002
	I have been asked by the Transport Minister, David Jamieson, to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about future funding of the A40 in Gloucestershire.
	We are discussing with the County Council the additional resources to be transferred to them to maintain the A40 following its detrunking. The basis for those discussions is the methodology, agreed between the Local Government Association and DTLR, for transferring routine maintenance resources to local authorities.

Bus Lanes

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he proposes to make regulations under the Transport Act 2000 to amend the transfers of liability to vehicle hirers for fixed penalty charge notices for bus lane contraventions under the London Local Authorities Act 1996.

Sally Keeble: Our target is to make London bus lane enforcement regulations under section 144 of the Transport Act 2000 this autumn.

Night Buses

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what proposals the Government have to increase the number of night buses and night bus routes.

Sally Keeble: Whether to provide night bus services is primarily a matter for commercial operators outside London, and for Transport for London. Local authorities outside London may however subsidise the provision of a service where they consider it necessary. There are already night bus services operating in a number of towns and cities.
	Bus services in London are the responsibility of the Mayor and Transport for London. They have already made significant improvements in night bus services and more are planned. For example, 16 new night bus routes have been introduced since April 2000, and frequencies have increased on many others. There has also been a 20 per cent. growth in the number of night bus passengers in London in the last year.
	As a devolved matter under the Scotland Act 1998, bus services in Scotland are primarily a matter for the Scottish Executive. I understand that the frequency of night bus services in Glasgow will be increased from 26 May.

Vehicle Registration

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 29 April 2002, ref. 53199, on processing by the DVLA, what the average time taken was to process replacement vehicle registration documents in the last 12 months.

David Jamieson: For the year 2001–02 in respect of registration documents issued in response to customers notifying changes to their own or the vehicle's details, the agency processed 95 per cent. of all transactions within 8.4 days.

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many NDPBs have ceased to exist since 1997.

Christopher Leslie: I have been asked to reply.
	Records of the numbers of public bodies which are created and which cease to exist each year are not currently collected centrally. However, the total number of public bodies in existence each year is published in Annex B of the Cabinet Office publication, "Public Bodies 2001", a copy of which is held in the Library, and which is available on the internet.
	In 1979, the first year in which the total number of public bodies was recorded, there were 2,167 public bodies. In 1997, this had decreased by 48 per cent. to 1,128. The total as at 31 March 2001 was 1,025 a further reduction of 9 per cent. In parallel with the continuing commitment to reduce the number of NDPBs, the Government also remain committed to ensuring that new NDPBs and other bodies are set up only where it can be demonstrated that this is the most cost-effective and appropriate means of carrying out the function concerned.
	"Public Bodies 2002", giving details of public bodies in existence as at 31 March 2002, will be published in due course.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum Seekers

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the Afghans who landed at Stansted in February 2000 in a hijacked aircraft are in Britain; and what their immigration status is.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 30 April 2002
	Of the 170 people who arrived on the aircraft, 81, including the flight crew, returned to Afghanistan. Thirteen of the passengers, together with their 21 dependants, have asylum applications that are still undecided. This group includes the convicted hijackers. Thirty passengers with five dependants were refused asylum but remain in the United Kingdom pending the outcome of their appeal to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal. Six passengers and 12 dependants have been granted refugee status. Two passengers who previously indicated that they wished to return to Afghanistan have now indicated that they no longer wish to do so and their status is under consideration.

Asylum Seekers

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many dependants joined applicants for asylum after an initial decision on their case and are not included in the published total of asylum seekers in each of the years from 1995 to 2001;
	(2)  how many dependants are identified in the administrative records as joining asylum seekers after the initial decision on their cases in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 30 April 2002
	I regret that the information requested is unavailable and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
	Administrative records for applicants for asylum do not necessarily record how many dependants join applicants following initial decisions for a number of reasons. Some applicants leave the United Kingdom following the initial decision and are subsequently joined by dependants outside the United Kingdom, who would not be included in the published total. Some dependants may apply for asylum as principal applicants and therefore not be identifiable as dependants of existing or former applicants, but would be included in the published total. Some dependants may apply to enter the United Kingdom for temporary purposes (for example, as a visitor) or apply for settlement within the United Kingdom without either identifying that they wish to join a former or current asylum applicant or applying for asylum. These dependants would not be included in the published total of asylum seekers.
	Information on asylum applications and initial decisions is published quarterly on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Asylum Seekers

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are taken to ensure that those who are refused asylum and who agree to depart voluntarily do so.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 30 April 2002
	A voluntary departure is where an asylum seekers withdraws their asylum claim before all appeal rights have been exhausted and wishes to leave the United Kingdom. In all cases they are asked to sign a disclaimer confirming that they wish to leave prior to the conclusion of their application.
	Some individuals make themselves known to the immigration service at the point of embarkation, for example, in order to collect ticketing and other documentation. The immigration service will conform with the carrier that individuals have departed from the United Kingdom.
	If an individual does not inform the immigration service of his intentions and obtains his/her own documents, we may not be aware that he/she has departed from the United Kingdom.
	Where a person is voluntarily leaving the United Kingdom under the Voluntary Assisted Returns Programme (VARP), operated on behalf of the Home Office by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), they will be assisted at the airport by the IOM. Before the flight leaves, the individual is required to sign a disclaimer confirming that the departure is voluntary. The IOM's London office advises IOM offices in the destination country and any transit country of the departure and notifies the Home Office.

Asylum Seekers

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum applicants have been dealt with under the backlog clearing exercise; and how many of them were granted (a) asylum and (b) exceptional leave to remain.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 30 April 2002
	Record levels of initial decisions in 2000 and 2001 led to a reduction in the number of cases awaiting an initial decision—from 119,700 cases at the end of December 1999 to 39,400 at the end of December 2001. Initial decisions continue to outstrip applications, so the number of outstanding cases continues to fall.
	The data requested are shown in the table. This information relates to cases decided under measures aimed at reducing the pre-1996 asylum application backlog during 1999 and 2000.
	
		Asylum cases considered under the backlog clearance exercise(12),(13) -- Principal applicants only
		
			  1999 2000(14) Total 
		
		
			 Total cases 12,415 11,660 24,075 
			 Granted asylum under backlog criteria 945 305 1,250 
			 Granted ELR under backlog criteria 10,195 10,020 20,215 
			 Refused under backlog criteria(15) 1,275 1,335 2,605 
		
	
	(12) Figures are rounded to the nearest 5, and exclude dependents.
	(13) Some cases decided under the backlog criteria may not be included, as they may be included in the figures showing cases considered under normal procedures.
	(14) Provisional data
	(15) Includes some cases where the application has been refused on substantive grounds.
	Information on initial decisions is published quarterly. The next publication will cover the period up to March 2002, and will be available from 30 May 2002 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate web site at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/ immigration1.html.

Asylum Seekers

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which Government Departments provided support for asylum seekers in (a) 1999–2000 and (b) 2000–01.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 30 April 2002
	In 1999–2000 support for asylum seekers was provided by the Department for Social Security (now Department for Work and Pensions), the Department of Health and the Home Office. The Department of Social Security (DSS) provided support to those asylum seekers who made their application for asylum at a port of entry until such time as an initial decision was made on the claim. But the costs of support provided by the DSS were met by the Home Office. The Department of Health was responsible for funding the support costs of unaccompanied asylum seeking children. The Home Office was responsible for payment of grant to local authorities who were supporting asylum seekers who had either applied for asylum in country or who, having applied at a United Kingdom port of entry, had received an initial negative decision on their claim and were appealing against that decision.
	In 2000–01 support for asylum seekers was mainly provided by the Home Office. Support was provided either directly by the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) or by grant paid to local authorities to meet the direct costs of those supported under the interim provisions. In 2000–01 the grant to social services departments caring for unaccompanied asylum seeking children was also met by the Home Office. The DSS provided support for those asylum seekers who applied for asylum at a port of entry prior to 3 April 2000 and who had not received an initial decision on their claim. Again these costs were met by the Home Office.

Asylum Seekers

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum applicants were (a) finally refused and (b) removed in (i) 1999–2000 and (ii) 2000–01.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 30 April 2002
	Information on final decisions is not readily available and could be obtained only by examining individual case files to obtain information on the outcomes of initial decisions, of subsequent appeals to the Immigration Appellate Authority and the Tribunal, and of cases which have been reconsidered, which would incur disproportionate cost.
	Information on initial decisions which refused asylum and Exceptional Leave to Remain (ELR) during these years is shown in the table. This table represents principal applicants only.
	
		Initial decisions to refuse asylum and ELR, 1999–2000 and 2000–01(16),(17)
		
			  1999–2000 2000–01 
		
		
			 Total initial decisions 52,040 132,840 
			 Refused asylum and ELR under normal procedures(18) 23,720 97,040 
			 Refused asylum and ELR under backlog criteria(19),(20) 1,490 1,110 
		
	
	(16) Data are rounded to the nearest 5 and exclude dependants.
	(17) Provisional data.
	(18) Cases considered under normal procedures may include some cases decided under the backlog criteria.
	(19) Cases decided under measures aimed at reducing the pre-1996 asylum application backlog.
	(20) Includes some cases where the application has been refused on substantive grounds.
	The number of failed asylum applicants removed in 1999–2000 and 2000–01 is shown in the table. This table represents principal applicants only.
	
		Asylum seekers(21) removed(22),(23)
		
			 Year Number 
		
		
			 1999–2000 7,915 
			 2000–01 (24)8,930 
		
	
	(21) Persons who had sought asylum at some point, excluding dependants.
	(22) Figures rounded to the nearest 5.
	(23) Includes persons departing 'voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them and persons leaving under the Assisted Voluntary Returns Programme run by the International Organisation for Migration.
	(24) Provisional figure.
	Removals in 1999–2000 and 2000–01 do not necessarily relate to refusals in the same period.
	Information on initial decisions and the number of asylum seekers removed from the United Kingdom is published on a quarterly basis on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Asylum Seekers

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of accommodating asylum seekers and those already granted asylum and exceptional leave to remain in the financial year 2000–01.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 30 April 2002
	Home Office expenditure on supporting destitute asylum seekers, including unaccompanied minors, in 2000–01 was £751 million.
	Those granted refugee status and exceptional leave to remain are entitled to work and to mainstream benefits and figures for the costs are not available.

Arranged Marriages

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if an entry clearance officer who has grounds to suspect that a proposed marriage is primarily for the purpose of evading immigration controls has the power to refuse the issue of an entry clearance certificate to either party on those grounds.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 30 April 2002
	The primary purpose rule, which required an applicant to prove that the primary purpose of the marriage was not to obtain admission to the United Kingdom, was abolished in June 1997. However, an entry clearance officer can refuse to issue an entry clearance if he is not satisfied that the marriage is genuine and that each of the parties intends to live permanently with the other as his or her spouse after the marriage.

Refugee Convention

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps would be necessary for Britain to withdraw from the 1951 Refugee Convention and from subsequent related commitments.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 30 April 2002
	Article 44 of the 1951 Convention states that any contracting state may denounce the Convention at any time by a notification addressed to the Secretary General of the United Nations. The Convention would cease to extend to such territory one year after the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary General. All relevant legislation would need to be amended to give effect to denunciation of the Convention.
	However, the Government are committed to ensuring that this country adheres to its obligations under the Convention, and that those who are fleeing persecution are given the protection they need. Equally the Government are determined that those who attempt to abuse this country's immigration and asylum system are dealt with quickly and removed.

Resource Allocation

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how he will use the additional resources allocated to his Department in the Budget statement.

David Blunkett: Working in partnership with colleagues in Departments, agencies and services throughout the criminal justice system, I am taking forward a major programme of work to reduce crime and deal more effectively with offenders at every stage of the criminal justice process. The recent additional allocation of resources will enable us both to intensify and accelerate existing plans in key areas as well as to enhance our counter-terrorist response.
	In his Budget statement, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the allocation of new resources to the Home Office of £180 million, including £110 million from the Reserve for 2002–03. He also announced that we would be drawing down on a further £100 million from the Criminal Justice Reserve. In addition, I will be re-prioritising £68 million from existing Home Office resources. This will make possible substantial new investment in key Home Office priorities as follows:
	£67 million to bring forward and intensify the Street Crime Initiative which is a targeted programme to reduce street robbery in the 10 metropolitan areas which together account for 82 per cent. of the national total. This comprises:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 Police operations and community support officers 36.0 
			 Video identity parades 7.6 
			 Probation/resettlement and drugs 10.0 
			 Additional Crown Prosecution Service and courts costs 13.8 
		
	
	£194 million for measures to deal with offenders on remand and after sentence and in particular provide effective measures to tackle persistent juvenile offending.
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 2,300 prison places (including 600 for juveniles) 171.0 
			 Bail tagging for juveniles 7.5 
			 Extending intensive supervision schemes 6.5 
			 Local authority secure unit and secure training centre places 9.0 
		
	
	£87 million to enhance our defences against terrorism including additional resources for police activity and technical and operational support for counter-terrorist activity.
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 Police activity 63.0 
			 Technical and operational support 24.0

Sentence Review

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to inform members of the public of their right to ask the Attorney- General to review unduly lenient sentences under the Criminal Justice Act 1998.

Keith Bradley: holding answer 23 April 2002
	Information about the power of the Attorney-General to refer a sentence to the Court of Appeal for review has been incorporated in a number of Home Office publications, including the Victims Charter. This has been distributed widely throughout the criminal justice system and is publicly available through Libraries and on the Home Office website, and the 'Information for Families of Homicide Victims' pack.
	If a person believes that the sentence passed is unduly lenient, they can discuss this with the local office of the Crown Prosecution Service, who have put in place systems by which potentially unduly lenient sentences can be brought to the attention of the Attorney-General.

Young Prisoners

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what minimum daily calorie level is recommended for juveniles held in prisons and courts.

Beverley Hughes: The Youth Justice Board monitors the performance of secure training centres (STCs) and local authority secure children's homes against their respective contracts and service specifications. These specify that each service provider should provide three wholesome, nutritious, varied good quality meals per day to each young person. At least one meal should be hot and there should be a choice available for the main meal.
	Prison Service establishments holding juveniles are subject to Prison Service Order 5000, Annexe 20, which states that the estimated average calorific requirement for the 15 to 18-year-old age group is 2,755 kcal for males and 2,110 kcal for females.

Looked-after Children

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many juveniles in prisons are looked- after children.

Beverley Hughes: The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) is responsible for commissioning and purchasing secure accommodation for juveniles, and for setting and monitoring standards.
	The information requested is not currently collected systematically. However, the YJB is now putting in place a system to do this. The YJB is also in the process of commissioning research into the numbers and needs of looked-after children in custody.

Antisocial Behaviour

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued since their inception in (a) Hampshire, (b) Fareham, (c) Gosport and (d) Portsmouth.

John Denham: holding answer 30 April 2002
	Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) were introduced from 1 April 1999. The data given in the table covers the period up to the end of December 2001.
	
		Number of antisocial behaviour orders issued as from 1 April 1999 to 31 December 2001 within Hampshire by area
		
			 Area From 1 April 1999 to 31 May 2000(25) From 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2000 From 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2001 Total 
		
		
			 Police force area/MCC(26) 
			 Hampshire 1 2 4 7 
			 Local government authority 
			 Fareham BC (27)— — — — 
			 Gosport BC (27)— — — — 
			 Portsmouth, City of (27)— — 1 1 
			 Southampton, City of (27)— 2 3 5 
		
	
	(25) Total figure only available for Hampshire police force area within this period. Local government authority not known.
	(26) MCC—Magistrates courts committee area.
	(27) Not available.

Firearms Certificates

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his target is for police forces to deal with applications for (a) new and for (b) variations of firearms certificates; and what the average time taken by each police force is.

Keith Bradley: holding answer 30 April 2002
	No central target is set by the Home Office. It is for each police force to establish its own targets for dealing with applications for new firearms certificates and for variations to existing ones. Under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1999 all forces are required to carry out a five year rolling programme of best value reviews of all areas of business, including firearms licensing.
	The average times taken for each force to undertake these functions are not centrally recorded, but we understand that most forces would aim to deal with the majority of currently completed applications within four to eight weeks.

Contracts

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts were let by his Department and agencies for which he is responsible to (a) PWC Consulting or PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Ernst and Young, (c) Deloitte and Touche, (d) KPMG and (e) Andersen for consultancy services for the financial years (i) 1997–98, (ii) 1998–99, (iii) 1999–2000, (iv) 2000–01 and (v) 2001 to the latest date for which figures are available, indicating the remuneration in each case.

Angela Eagle: The available information on the number of contracts let by the Home Department to (a) Consulting or PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), (b) Ernst and Young, (c) Deloitte and Touche, (d) KPMG and (e) Anderson for consultancy services for the financial years (i) 1997–98, (ii) 1998–99, (iii) 1999–2000, (iv) 2000–01 and (v) 2001 to date indicating the remuneration made in each case is as follows:
	
		
			 Company Numbers of contracts Remuneration 
		
		
			 1997–98   
			 Ernst and Young 1 10,665 
			 KPMG 2 100,774 
			
			 1998–99   
			 Ernst and Young 1 35,250 
			 PricewaterhouseCoopers 2 37,440 
			 KPMG 3 226,955 
			
			 1999–2000   
			 PricewaterhouseCoopers 5 2,728,372 
			 KPMG 1 25,000 
			 Ernst and Young 2 311,000 
			 Deloitte and Touche 1 130,000 
			
			 2000–01   
			 PricewaterhouseCoopers 4 2,284,258 
			 Ernst and Young 2 1,166,913 
			
			 2001 to date   
			 PricewaterhouseCoopers 4 2,489,251 
			 Deloitte and Touche 1 15,800 
			 Ernst and Young 1 429,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	Contracts were awarded following civil service rules.
	The Home Office has not awarded any contracts to Anderson for the period in question.

Departmental Staff

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff left the service of his Department and its agencies in the year ended 31 March 2001; how many left before attaining the formal retirement age of 60 years; and in respect of how many his Department and its agencies assumed responsibilities for making payments until retirement age.

Angela Eagle: I am sorry for the delay in answering this question. Information on the number of staff who have left, and where the Home Office and its agencies have assumed responsibility for the early departure costs is set out in the tables.
	
		Staff who left in the 12 month period before 31 March 2002
		
			  Number of staff who left the Department:  
			  in the year ended 31 March 2001 before the formal retirement age 
		
		
			 United Kingdom Passport Agency (UKPA) 15 14 
			 Forensic Science Service (FSS) 173 169 
			 Fire Service College (FSC) 30 29 
			 Main Home Office 1,030 986 
			 Prison Service 3,685 3,165 
			  
			 Total 4,933 4,363 
		
	
	Note:
	All methods of leaving the Department/agencies are included here.
	
		Number of staff where the Department has responsibility for early departure costs until retirement age
		
			 Department/agency Number 
		
		
			 Home Office 19 
			 Prison Service 45 
			 United Kingdom Passport Service 2 
			 Forensic Science Service 2 
			 Fire Service College(28) 1 
			  
			 Total 69 
		
	
	(28) Responsibility for Fire Service College transferred to Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) as part of the machinery of Government changes in June 2001.

Accommodation Costs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of hotel accommodation for departmental staff working away from home in each of the last four years.

Angela Eagle: The estimated costs of hotel accommodation for staff working away from home are contained in the table:
	
		
			 Year Cost £ 
		
		
			 1998–99 28,220 
			 1999–2000 249,462 
			 2000–01 504,815 
			 2001–02(29) 685,818 
		
	
	(29) To date
	Fully accurate information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The increase in expenditure is largely due to the expansion of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate and the activities carried out by the National Asylum Support Service which has necessitated increased travelling for staff and stays away from home. It had been anticipated and included in budgets. A programme of regional recruitment is under way to manage down the number of staff who are posted to areas that require hotel stays.

Mr. Mustapha Sekhi

Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to make a decision on the asylum application of Mr. Mustapha Sekhi, reference B1039408.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 14 March 2002
	My right hon. and noble Friend Lord Rooker wrote to the hon. Member on 9 April 2002.

Criminal Offences

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the criminal offences which have been (a) created in each year since 1997 and (b) abolished.

Keith Bradley: holding answer 21 March 2002
	A comprehensive and exhaustive list of new and abolished offences could be provided only at disproportionate cost. We can, however, provide the following information about Home Office measures which have been enacted since 1 May 1997.
	The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 created two new offences: breach of antisocial behaviour orders and breach of sex offender orders. It also created nine racially- aggravated offences (amended by the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 to "racially or religiously aggravated offences"), but these are based on existing offences and do not render unlawful behaviour which would otherwise have been lawful. The Data Protection Act 1998 created four new offences.
	The Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 created 12 new offences. The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 created four new offences. The Football (Offences and Disorder) Act 1999 created one new offence.
	The Terrorism Act 2000 created 38 new offences. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 created four new criminal offences. The Football (Disorder) Act 2000 created two new criminal offences. The Licensing (Young Persons) Act 2000 created one new criminal offence. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 created three new criminal offences.
	The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 created 69 new criminal offences. The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 created three new criminal offences. The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 created two new criminal offences. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 created six new criminal offences.
	The Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 created 15 new criminal offences. The Vehicle (Crimes) Act 2001 created 12 new criminal offences. The Private Security Industry Act 2001 created 10 new offences. The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 created 19 new offences.

Criminal Offences

Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what class of offences bail is (a) automatically refused and (b) automatically allowed.

Keith Bradley: holding answer 26 April 2002
	There are no classes of offences for which bail is either automatically granted or refused. The Bail Act 1976 establishes a presumption in favour of bail and then sets out exceptions to this presumption, so that the defendant need not be granted bail where he or she presents a bail risk. For example, where there are substantial grounds for believing that if released on bail the defendant would fail to return to court, would commit an offence, interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice. Each decision is at the discretion of the courts and each case is considered on its own merits.

Jury Service

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the exemption of medical professionals from jury service; and what plans he has to alter this.

Keith Bradley: The issue was considered by Sir Robin Auld as part of his independent review of the criminal courts. He recommended that no one should be excusable from jury service as of right, only on showing good reason for excusal. The Government are giving careful consideration to all the representations received on Sir Robin's review and will be announcing its response in the forthcoming Criminal Justice White Paper.

Immigration Appeals

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what process there is to enable monitoring to take place concerning the speed and methods of transit of appeal bundle files from UK missions overseas to their initial destinations at the Appeals Support Service in this country; and what period of time it should take for an appeal bundle to reach the Immigration Appellate Authority for consideration from the date of initial recording with the Appeals Support Service.

Angela Eagle: The target time for despatch of explanatory statements from entry clearance posts to the Home Office is one month from receipt of the notice of appeal for non-settlement applications and three months for settlement applications. Information on the actual time for despatch is not available.
	There is no target governing the period between the receipt of an appeal bundle in the Home Office and its receipt in the Immigration Appellate Authority.

Leave to Remain Applications

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals have made applications this year for leave to remain in the UK; how long an application for leave to remain in the UK takes to be processed by the Home Office from the time of submission; what Department deals with overstayer applications; and if he will make a statement on special reasons that prevent a decision being made in order to complete a case within a period of six months from date of application.

Angela Eagle: Statistics on the number of applicants seeking an extension of leave to remain in the United Kingdom are not available.
	Our aim is to decide 65 per cent. of all straightforward applications on initial consideration within three weeks. Due to the exceptionally high number of applications received over the past year, and process changes which are being introduced to improve our longer term performance, it is at present taking up to six weeks to decide an application on initial consideration. We are working to reduce this to three weeks or less as soon as possible. For the same reasons some applications which need further inquiries or more detailed consideration can take up to nine months to consider. Every effort is being made to reduce this period. Information on expected processing times for general immigration cases is provided to applicants on the Immigration Nationality Directorate (IND) website at http://194.203.40.90/ default.asp?Pageld=113
	A special unit within the Integrated Casework Directorate has been set up to consider applications made under the Regularisation of Overstayers Scheme.

Prisons

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of (a) prisoners and (b) re-offending prisoners in UK prisons were excluded from school while of school age.

Beverley Hughes: A 1998 survey found that around half of all male prisoners and a third of female prisoners had been excluded from school. A more recent survey carried out in a sample of young offender institutions between September 2001 and February 2002 found that 84 per cent. of respondents have been excluded from school. Neither survey distinguishes between prisoners in custody for a first or repeat offence.

Smart Card Technology

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the use of smart card technology in his Department and in the areas for which it is responsible; and what discussions he has had with private companies about the use of smart card technology within his Department.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 16 April 2002
	The Home Department has a number of areas of business where smart card technology may be relevantly applied. In their work on drafting a consultation paper on entitlement cards and other methods for dealing with identity fraud which my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced on 5 February 2002, Official Report, column 872W, my officials have discussed the use of smart card technology with trade associations and some private companies as set out in my answer to the hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes) on 1 March 2002, Official Report, column 1587W.
	In the Passport Service and the Criminal Records Bureau smart card technology is not currently used, however, the Passport Service is currently investigating the potential use of electronic data storage in passport books and in a card form of the passport issued along side a passport book. The primary aim of this technology would be to improve document security by the addition of a machine readable biometrics templates. Smart card technology would be one option for data storage. Other options are optical memory, 2D bar codes and magnetic strip. The use of smart card (i.e. microcomputer chip) technology would be expensive but would also provide the opportunity to develop other applications, particularly if used on a passport card. These investigations have centred on technology standards and the experience of other Governments and organisations using electronic data storage for biometric templates. There have been no direct discussions about a smart card passport design with private sector companies supplying smart card technology.
	In the Immigration and Nationality Directorate smart card technology is being used in the context of the Asylum Fingerprinting System and has been developed by the incumbent supplier of services.
	In respect of internal operational business requirements smart card technology is part of proposals currently being made by incumbent Home Office Private Finance Initiative (PFI) suppliers to support security of mobile computing.
	Technology decisions in the context of PFI contracts would not involve the Department in direct discussions with smart card suppliers.
	The Home Office continues to liaise with the Office of the e-Envoy (OeE) on appropriate opportunities and uses of such technology and will respond to the proceedings and findings of the OeE Smart Card Working Group.

Appeals

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date the ASS of his Department forwarded the papers in the case of Fuzal-Ur-Rahman post ref ISB-/E425 to the IAA.

Angela Eagle: There is no target governing the period between the receipt of an appeal bundle in the Home Office and its receipt in the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA).
	Our records indicate that the appeal papers have been processed and the bundle has been dispatched to the IAA. The IAA will advise the appellant of the date for the hearing in due course.

Child Safety/Parenting Orders

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) child safety and (b) parenting orders have been made to date in each police force area in England and Wales; how many have been (i) discharged and (ii) breached; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The number of parenting orders and child safety orders imposed in England and Wales between April 2000 and December 2001, are set out in the table. This information comes from the Youth Justice Board. I will write to the hon. Member with police force area breakdowns as soon as they are available. 40 of the parenting orders imposed following a crime by the child have resulted in breach action. Discharge and other breach statistics are not routinely collected.
	
		England and Wales
		
			  Parenting order Child safety order 
		
		
			 Crime 1,268 — 
			 Education 274 — 
			 Other 236 — 
			 Total 1,778 12

Cyclists (Fixed Penalties)

Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many substantive fixed penalties were issued against cyclists in (a) 2000 and (b) 2001, by police force, broken down by the reasons of issue.

John Denham: holding answer 24 April 2002
	Available information for the year 2000, taken from a special exercise undertaken to monitor fixed penalties issued against pedal cyclists, are given in the table.
	The exercise has not been repeated for 2001.
	
		Fixed Penalties—Number of substantive tickets issued for pedal cycle offences by offence and police force area, January to December 2000
		
			  Police force area Carrying more than one person on pedal cycle Cycling on the footway (pavement)  Total 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 1 34 35 
			 Bedfordshire (30)— (30)— (30)— 
			 Cambridgeshire (30)— (30)— (30)— 
			 Cheshire (30)— 14 14 
			 Cleveland 1 5 5 
			 Cumbria (30)— 20 20 
			 Derbyshire (30)— 8 8 
			 Devon and Cornwall 6 34 40 
			 Dorset (30)— 17 17 
			 Durham 1 11 12 
			 Essex 4 55 59 
			 Gloucestershire 2 47 49 
			 Greater Manchester 4 (31)78 82 
			 Hampshire 7 52 59 
			 Hertfordshire (30)— 6 6 
			 Humberside 6 64 70 
			 Kent 1 44 45 
			 Lancashire 4 20 24 
			 Leicestershire 1 5 6 
			 Lincolnshire 1 4 5 
			 London, City of (30)— 3 3 
			 Merseyside (30)— 20 20 
			 Metropolitan Police (30)— 66 66 
			 Norfolk (30)— 14 14 
			 Northamptonshire (30)— 7 7 
			 Northumbria 1 27 28 
			 North Yorkshire 1 16 17 
			 Nottinghamshire (30)— 1 1 
			 South Yorkshire (30)— 34 34 
			 Staffordshire 1 4 5 
			 Suffolk (30)— 30 30 
			 Surrey 1 1 2 
			 Sussex (30)— 9 9 
			 Thames Valley 2 6 8 
			 Warwickshire 1 3 4 
			 West Mercia (30)— 17 17 
			 West Midlands 3 9 12 
			 West Yorkshire (30)— 2 2 
			 Wiltshire 1 23 24 
			 Dyfed-Powys (30)— 3 3 
			 Gwent (30)— 1 1 
			 North Wales(32) (30)— 1 1 
			 South Wales 1 6 7 
			 Total 51 821 872 
		
	
	(30) Not available
	(31) Motoring offences of driving on footway (pavement) included within cycling on the footway (pavement).
	(32) October to December 2000 only

Raves

Gillian Merron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will amend the definition of raves under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 to give police more powers to prevent and stop such events by (a) lowering the requisite number of attendees and (b) including events under cover.

Bob Ainsworth: We are currently considering the effectiveness of the current legislation (Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994) on raves.

Animal Experimentation

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in the establishment of a Royal Commission into animal experimentation; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 25 April 2002
	I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Perth (Annabelle Ewing) on 25 March 2002, Official Report, column 599W.

Belmarsh Prison

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the procedure is for vetting visitors to remand prisoners held in the special secure unit at HMP Belmarsh; what the target is for number of days required to process a prisoner application; how many applications have been processed since October 2001; how many applications are still pending; how many days each completed application took to process; and how many and what proportion of applications have been rejected.

Beverley Hughes: The facility at Belmarsh is designated as a High Secure Unit. Any person wishing to have an open visit with a category A prisoner, irrespective of whether that prisoner (convicted or on remand) is located in the Unit or elsewhere at Belmarsh, is required to submit to the prison an application form and two passport sized photographs of themselves. A security check is then undertaken, generally by the relevant police authority. Once those checks are complete, a decision on whether to allow the applicant to have open visits is then made.
	The 33 prisoners currently located in the High Secure Unit have made a total of 196 applications for visitors to be made 'approved visitors' and receive open visits. Of this number 72 visitors have been cleared for open visits, 16 are currently receiving discretionary closed visits and 108 are awaiting clearance.
	Applications from the prisoner for a person to become an approved visitor are normally processed within 24 hours of receipt by the issue of the appropriate form for the visitor to complete. Returned forms from the visitor are normally processed within 48 hours of receipt and passed to the relevant police authority. Upon completion of police checks, a final decision is then taken by the prison, normally within 48 hours. Time taken for visitors to return application forms and for the police to complete appropriate checks is beyond the control of the prison.
	Information on each separate application could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Belmarsh Prison

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements have been made for the maintenance of family relationships of (a) convicted and (b) remand prisoners held in the special secure unit at HMP Belmarsh; how many (i) hours for family visits and (ii) minutes for telephone contact each prisoner has been permitted in each of the last four weeks for which figures are available; and what restrictions were put on (A) the visit and the visitors and (B) the phone call and recipient of phone calls.

Beverley Hughes: The facility at Belmarsh is designated as a High Secure Unit (HSU). All prisoners in the unit can arrange visits as set out in the guidelines of Standing Order 5 and subject to those visitors being on the Approved Visitors Scheme. Convicted prisoners receive two visiting orders per month, plus a further visiting order should they be on the enhanced level of the incentive and earned privileges (IEP) scheme. Those prisoners held on remand receive two visiting orders per week, plus a further visiting order should they be on the enhanced level of the IEP Scheme.
	All visits are up to a maximum of two hours in length. During Monday to Friday visits are available either in the morning or afternoon. At weekends, visits are available in the afternoon only. For the present number of prisoners in the HSU there are available each week 48 sessions of two hours duration. That availability could be increased to 72 sessions per week in the event of extra demand.
	All prisoners in the HSU are able to use the telephone subject to the recipient of the call being an approved visitor or in the process of becoming an approved visitor.
	The computer managed telephone system allows for the duration of calls to be no more than 15 minutes. However, there is no limit to the number of calls any prisoner may make during the association period. Each prisoner may have a maximum amount of credit in his telephone account of £60 on which to spend on calls, except for those classed as foreign nationals, where no maximum limit exists.
	Telephone calls may be made in any association period or, on application, if the timing of association is not convenient for either the family or legal advisers. During the last week of March and the first three weeks of April 2002 approximately 42 hours of facility time during which to make use of the telephone system.
	Details of individual prisoner use of visits and the telephone can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Belmarsh Prison

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what education and training facilities are available for (a) remand and (b) convicted prisoners held in the special secure unit at HMP Belmarsh; how many hours in each of the last four weeks for which figures are available each prisoner has been able to use these facilities; and what was the average hours per day for which figures are available in the last month that prisoners were locked in their cells.

Beverley Hughes: The facility at Belmarsh is designated as a High Secure Unit. All prisoners (whether on remand or convicted) may apply to the education department for assistance and advice on educational matters. Work is undertaken on a self study basis, although there are no vocational training courses. A basic skills analysis has also been undertaken to identify the individual needs of prisoners which also took into account the fact that a number were foreign nationals. Prisoners have access to computer facilities, which may be used whenever they are unlocked and on association.
	The regime of the unit varies daily, but the average number of hours a prisoner may be locked up in any period of 24 hours is 17.5 hours.
	Details of facilities available on an individual prisoner basis can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Belmarsh Prison

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners are held in each special secure unit, stating (a) the number of prisoners held on remand and the nature of crimes for which convicted prisoners were sentenced, (b) the national origin or citizenship of the prisoners, (c) the religion of the prisoner, (d) their special category status, (e) how long the prisoner has been housed in a special secure unit and (f) on what date each prisoner was last examined medically.

Beverley Hughes: Currently there is only one special secure unit (SSU) in operation which is located at Whitemoor prison. The eight prisoners in the SSU have all been convicted by the courts. Their nationality is British (five), Turkish (two) and Brazilian (one). Three of those held in the SSU have been convicted of murder with the other five having been convicted of drug related charges.
	The declared religion is Church of England (three); Muslim (two), Roman Catholic (one). The remaining two prisoners decline to state their religion. All those held in the SSU are Category A 'Exceptional Risk' prisoners.
	The periods of time the prisoners have been held in the SSU is as follows: 0–6 months (four); six-12 months one; 12–18 months (0), 18–24 months (two) and over two years (one).
	Every prisoner in the SSU is medically examined on a quarterly basis. The last occasion each was examined were on 1 March 2002 (one), 6 March 2002 (six) and 14 March 2002 (one). Every prisoner is, of course, able to consult a doctor or nurse when required.

Prison Pay Review Body

Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the recommendations of the Prison Pay Review Body are; and when they will be implemented.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 26 April 2002
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend (Huw Edwards) on 21 March 2002, Official Report, column 480W.

PRIME MINISTER

Visit (North Down)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Prime Minister if he plans to visit North Down in 2002.

Tony Blair: I have no immediate plans to do so.

Engagements

Peter Tapsell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 1 May.

Tony Blair: This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further such meetings later today.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Organised Crime

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress there has been in the past six months in the fight against organised crime in Northern Ireland.

Jane Kennedy: We are beginning to make a real impact in disrupting and dismantling the organised crime gangs in Northern Ireland with a further 60 recruits. Just last Friday, the police foiled another armed robbery against a security firm and released a hostage in a daring, well executed, operation.

Organised Crime

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent action has been taken to tackle (a) smuggling and (b) other forms of organised crime.

Jane Kennedy: In September 2000 the Government established an Organised Crime Task Force in Northern Ireland. The task force, which I chair, bring the various agencies that can make a difference, such as the police service of Northern Ireland and HM Customs and Excise to agree crime types for concerted multi-agency action. The agencies have scored a number of notable successes against smuggling gangs and other organised criminals over the past year, including the largest ever UK seizure (over 42 million) of smuggled cigarettes at Warrenpoint in November 2001. In February 2002 the police broke up a heroin distribution network and charged 15 people with serious drug offences.

Tolerance and Inclusivity

Iain Luke: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in meeting his objective of promoting tolerance and inclusivity in Northern Ireland since the Belfast agreement.

Des Browne: The conclusion, and the continuing implementation, of the agreement itself are great achievements for inclusivity, drawing into Government people from across both major traditions. Northern Ireland can be proud of them. But it is the responsibility for all in public life in Northern Ireland to ensure that no part of either community there feels left behind by the process, and that all aspirations are fully respected.

School Anti-drugs Campaigns

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of the anti-drugs campaigns being mounted in schools by the police service of Northern Ireland.

Valerie Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of the anti-drugs campaigns being mounted in schools by the police service of Northern Ireland.

Jane Kennedy: I am grateful for the opportunity to highlight the efforts being made in Northern Ireland by the PSNI to get the "don't do drugs" message across to children in our schools. It is an essential part of the overall anti-drugs strategy, with education at one end of the spectrum allied to detection and prosecution at the other. The PSNI recognises the value of including the anti-drugs message in the Citizenship and Safety Education (CASE) Programme which provides a platform for them to work in partnership with teachers and parents. The overarching aim is to encourage responsible behaviour in young people and empower them to live safely and that must include avoidance of drugs.
	It is of course impossible to say precisely how effective the incorporation of the drugs education programme is in terms of numbers deterred from drug abuse, but the theme is "Education", recognising that it is better to education the young on prevention than simply to concentrate on catching offenders.

Community Safety Strategy

Betty Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the Government's proposed community safety strategy.

Des Browne: The Government published a draft community safety strategy for consultation on 10 April 2002. The strategy sets out a broad framework for action at a local level to address local concerns about crime, the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour. It will require close co-operation from a wide range of agencies in both the devolved and non-devolved Administrations.

Community Safety Strategy

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on community safety campaigns being mounted in schools by the police service of Northern Ireland.

Jane Kennedy: The Police Service of Northern Ireland recognises the importance of education in promoting individual safety for young people and families and to help create safer communities. The Citizen and Safety Education (CASE) Programme has been developed in an attempt to establish close links between the police and the school community through the central themes of Protection, Education and Prevention. CASE provides a platform for police to work in partnership with teachers and parents. Together, they seek to present information and promote skills, attitudes and values, which encourage responsible behaviour in young people and empower them to live safely.
	The issues covered in the programme include the role of the police, vandalism, bullying, peer pressure, stranger danger, road safety, internet safety, abuse, respecting others, young people and the law, underage drinking, solvent abuse and drugs and the law. Over 80 officers are involved in the CASE programme and it is hoped to significantly increase that number for the next academic year. Of the 1,182 schools in Northern Ireland, PSNI is currently working in 940, focusing on pupils at Key Stages I, II and III.

Community Safety Strategy

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the promotion of crime prevention and community safety in Northern Ireland.

Des Browne: The Government have taken forward a number of crime prevention campaigns in Northern Ireland with appropriate partners. In addition, a draft community safety strategy for consultation was published on 10 April 2002. The strategy sets out a broad framework for action at a local level to address local concerns about crime, the fear of crime and antisocial behaviour.

Devolved Institutions

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the operation in the past 12 months of the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland.

John Reid: The devolved institutions have already embarked on a wide ranging process of review and reform. Since last November a new stability has been achieved. I believe that, under the able leadership of the First and Deputy First Ministers, the institutions offer the potential for greatly improved public services, through local decisions by local people reflecting local circumstances.

Devolved Institutions

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on progress with the decommissioning of weapons by paramilitary groups.

Jane Kennedy: The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning reported, on 8 April 2002, that it had witnessed an event in which the IRA leadership has put a varied and substantial quantity of ammunition, arms and explosive material beyond use. The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning confirmed that they have made an inventory of the arms concerned.
	The process is on-going and we now need to see loyalist groups commence decommissioning. There needs also to be a decommissioning of mindsets. Terrorist groups must end all forms of paramilitary activity and dismantle the apparatus of terrorism.

Devolved Institutions

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the effectiveness in the past year of the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland.

John Reid: The devolved institutions have already embarked on a wide-ranging process of review and reform. Since last November a new stability has been achieved. I believe that, under the able leadership of the First and Deputy First Ministers, the institutions offer the potential for greatly improved public services, through local decisions by local people reflecting local circumstances.

Decommissioning

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the latest act of decommissioning by the IRA.

Jane Kennedy: The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning reported, on 8 April 2002, that it had witnessed an event in which the IRA leadership has put a varied and substantial quantity of ammunition, arms and explosive material beyond use. The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning confirmed that they have made an inventory of the arms concerned.

Decommissioning

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to bring about further decommissioning of weapons.

Jane Kennedy: The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning reported, on 8 April 2002, that it had witnessed an event in which the IRA leadership has put a varied and substantial quantity of ammunition, arms and explosive material beyond use.
	The process is on-going and we now need to see loyalist groups commence decommissioning. There needs also to be a decommissioning of mindsets. Terrorist groups must end all forms of paramilitary activity and dismantle the apparatus of terrorism. The timing of any future decommissioning events is a matter for the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning and the representatives of the various paramilitary organisations.

Decommissioning

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment has been made of the amount of IRA weapons recently put beyond use as a proportion of the estimated total IRA weapons arsenal.

Jane Kennedy: The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning reported, on 8 April 2002, that it had witnessed an event in which the IRA leadership has put a varied and substantial quantity of ammunition, arms and explosive material beyond use. The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning confirmed that they have made an inventory of the arms concerned. It has not been possible at this time to assess the percentage of the Provisional IRA's weaponry involved.
	The Commission's mandate under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement is to facilitate the decommissioning of all paramilitary arms. The Government have every confidence in General de Chastelain and his colleagues and respect their wishes on how best to proceed to fulfil their mandate.

Decommissioning

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many weapons the IRA has put beyond use; when this process was completed; what confirmation he has received from General John de Chastelain that the process is on-going; and if he will make a statement on the process of decommissioning.

John Reid: The second IRA act of decommissioning on 8 April 2002 demonstrates that the IRA is committed to the continuation of the decommissioning process.
	The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning have confirmed they have made an inventory of the arms concerned—the British and Irish Governments will be provided with this when the task is completed.

International Terrorism

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on links between terrorist groups in Northern Ireland and terrorist organisations in other countries.

Jane Kennedy: We are aware that various terrorist organisations in Northern Ireland have been linked to international terror groups at various points over the last 30 years, and this is a matter of concern.
	The peace process in Northern Ireland is not perfect. There are still issues to be resolved. This will only come about through dialogue and parties fulfilling their responsibilities under the Belfast Agreement.

Fugitives

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about his policy on fugitives from justice.

John Reid: At the talks at Weston Park last summer, both the Irish and UK Governments recognised that there is an issue to be addressed, with the completion of the early release scheme, about supporters of organisations now on ceasefire against whom there are outstanding prosecutions, and in some cases extradition proceedings, for offences committed before 10 April 1998. Such people would, if convicted, stand to benefit from the early release scheme. The Governments accept that it would be a natural development of the scheme for such prosecutions not to be pursued. Consideration continues of the best way to discharge this commitment.

Prisoner Releases

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prisoners have been released under the Good Friday agreement; and what groups those prisoners have been affiliated with.

Jane Kennedy: To date (23 April 2002), 447 individuals have been released early under the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998.
	Information is held, for management purposes, in relation to the perceived paramilitary association of prisoners in Northern Ireland. The table sets out details of the perceived association of the 447 individuals granted early release.
	
		
			 Perceived association Total 
		
		
			 PIRA 206 
			 INLA 24 
			 Former INLA 8 
			 Republican Association 3 
			 UDA 87 
			 UFF 14 
			 UVF 67 
			 RHC 3 
			 LVF 17 
			 Loyalist Association 6 
			 Criminal or No Association 12 
			  
			 Total 447

Saville Inquiry

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost has been to date of the Saville inquiry.

Des Browne: The cost of the Bloody Sunday inquiry to the Northern Ireland Office, as at 31 March 2002, is £57.9 million. This figure does not include costs to other Departments such as the Ministry of Defence.

United States (Community Support)

Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions he has had with the US Government on US support for communities in Northern Ireland.

John Reid: I have discussed this issue with the US Government and a range of US organisations during my visits in February and March. I am grateful for the support the United States gives to Northern Ireland. I am also grateful to organisations like the Irish American Partnership and the Ireland Funds for what they have done for Northern Ireland over the years.

Competition Policy

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the action he has taken in the last 12 months on competition policy in financial services in Northern Ireland.

John Reid: This matter has been devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly and is no longer a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Police Service

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on community safety campaigns being mounted in schools by the police service of Northern Ireland.

Jane Kennedy: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton, South-East (Dr. Iddon) ref. 51684.

Fireworks

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what regulations cover the sale of fireworks in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: At present the sale of fireworks is governed by the Explosives Act 1875 and Explosives (Fireworks) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999. The Explosive (Fireworks) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 which has been laid before Parliament will then prohibit the purchase, possession, sale and use of garden fireworks except under licence and will come into effect from 6 May 2002.

Terrorist Finance

Clive Soley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps the Government are taking to tackle the financing of terrorism in Northern Ireland.

Jane Kennedy: The Government's strategy for tackling terrorist crime in Northern Ireland is two fold. First, the police must have available to them robust legislative powers. The Terrorism Act 2000 contains a number of financial provisions for seeking information and restraining assets. These powers were supplemented by the Anti-Terrorist Crime and Security Act 2001, passed in the wake of the events on 11 September.
	Second, in September 2000, the Government established an Organised Crime Task Force for Northern Ireland. The task force, which I chair, brings the various agencies that can make a difference, such as the police service of Northern ireland and HM Customs and Excise to agree crime types for concerted multi-agency action. The agencies have scored a number of notable successes over the past year, including the largest ever UK seizure (over 42 million) of smuggled cigarettes at Warrenpoint in November 2001. In February 2002 the police broke up a heroin distribution network and charged 15 people with serious drugs offences.

Terrorist Amnesty

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his policy is on amnesty for convicted terrorists at large.

John Reid: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for New Forest, West (Mr. Swayne), ref. 51680.

Proceeds of Crime

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions his Department has had with the Criminal Assets Bureau regarding Government co-operation initiatives on the recovery of the proceeds of crime.

Jane Kennedy: My predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Kilbride (Mr. Ingram), and officials have visited the Criminal Asset bureau and the Northern Ireland Office has regular contact with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform on a range of issues including policy on the recovery of proceeds of crime. PSNI and other UK law enforcement agencies have successful operational links with a wide range of bodies in the Republic of Ireland, including the Criminal Asset Bureau.

District Policing Partnership Boards

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects the establishment of the District Policing Partnership Boards in Northern Ireland; and what the reason for the delay in their establishment has been.

Jane Kennedy: District Policing Partnerships will be established when the appointment process, which includes the appointment of the independent members, has been completed. The statutory code of practice governing the appointment members is currently out for consultation. The consultation process is scheduled to conclude on 22 May 2002.

Solar Panels

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what buildings owned by his Department have solar panels installed.

John Reid: My Department has no buildings with solar panels installed.

Oversight Commissioner

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he will publish the latest report received from the Oversight Commissioner.

Jane Kennedy: In accordance with section 68(4)(a) of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000, I have today laid a copy of the Oversight Commissioner's first statutory report for the year 2002 before this House.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Fair Trade

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will instruct Government Departments to investigate how they might increase the number and value of fair trade products that they purchase.

Clare Short: Through the Department for International Development, the Government have supported fair trade (FT) initiatives for a number of years, both in developing countries and in the UK. This support forms part of a wider dialogue with the private sector and civil society to encourage the adoption of more socially responsible and ethical trade practices. As companies and consumers become more aware of the connection between the way business is done and its impact on the livelihoods of people in developing countries, so the pressure for positive change grows.
	To this end, DFID has provided £250,000 this year to support the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). The ETI is a consortium of UK retail companies (with a combined annual turnover of nearly £100 billion), NGOs and trade unions committed to working together to identify and promote best practice in the implementation of codes of labour. ETI corporate members are required to report compliance down their supply chains against a base code founded on the ILO convention.
	In addition, we are providing £120,000 to the Fair Trade Foundation over three years (2001–03) in support of its efforts to target new consumers through its annual Fair Trade Fortnight campaigns. The fortnight is designed to highlight the positive developmental impacts of FT and the range of FT products on offer.
	With regard to direct purchasing of FT products by Government Departments, value for money considerations and the limited number of commodities for which internationally agreed FT standards exist, currently make it impractical to link Government purchasing policy to the FT mark.

Departmental Overseas Visits

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many overseas visits have been undertaken by parliamentary private secretaries in her Department at departmental expense in each of the last four years; and at what cost to public funds.

Clare Short: None.

Israel

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what contingency plans she has to replace DFID-funded projects in the west bank and Gaza Strip damaged by Israeli attacks.

Clare Short: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 11 March 2002, Official Report, column 683W.

Energy Costs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on energy costs incurred by her Department in each of the last 10 years.

Clare Short: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 19 March 2002, Official Report, column 268W.

Palestine

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to her answer of 17 April 2002, Official Report, column 994W, on Palestine, what assessment she has made of the cost of damage as a result of military action during the last 12 months to each of the projects listed.

Clare Short: Our latest firm information is that two projects have sustained direct damage. A vehicle provided to support primary health care management development at Bir Zeit University was damaged during an aerial attack on Ramallah. A community centre funded through the Save the Children Fund managed water and sanitation project in Rafah has also been damaged. The total cost of the damage has not yet been confirmed.

Special Advisers

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many times special advisers have accompanied Ministers on overseas visits in each of the last five years; which countries were visited; and what the total cost of each individual visit was.

Clare Short: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 10 April 2002, Official Report, column 222W.

Special Advisers

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many special advisers there were in her Department; and what their salaries were in each of the last five years.

Clare Short: At any one time there are no more than two special advisers employed in my Department. With reference to the salaries of special advisers, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Prime Minister on 10 April 2002, Official Report, column 11W.

Ministerial Travel

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many times Ministers in her Department have travelled abroad at taxpayers' expense since March 2001; what countries they visited; and what the total cost of each visit was.

Clare Short: Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. The 1999 list contained information on all such visits undertaken from 2 May 1997 to 31 April 1999. Details for travel undertaken in the period 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 will be published soon.
	All travel is undertaken fully in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Entertainment Costs

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  how much was spent by departmental special advisers on food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for entertainment purposes in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how much was spent by Ministers in her Department on food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for entertainment purposes in each of the last five years.

Clare Short: In the last five years total entertainment costs for the top management in DFID breaks down as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 2001–02 12,904 
			 2001–03 8,976 
			 2001–04 5,440 
			 2002–03 1,203 
		
	
	It is not possible to provide a breakdown as asked in the question.

Part-time Employees

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many and what proportion of the staff of her Department are part-time employees.

Clare Short: Of the 1,597 staff who are employed in DFID headquarters in London and East Kilbride, 123 staff work part-time. This equates to 7.7 per cent. of our HQ work force.

Palestinian Territories

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what information she has collated concerning the destruction by Israeli military forces of aid projects (a) funded and (b) supported by her Department in the Palestinian territories.

Clare Short: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 11 March 2002, Official Report, column 683W. I have also placed in the Library of the House a list of EC funded infrastructure projects which have been destroyed which were part funded by DFID.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Project Management Agency Support for Regional Trade Negotiating Machinery in the Caribbean region.

Clare Short: My department undertook a review of its support to the Regional Negotiating Machinery in March 2001. In consequence from June 2001 we improved the management arrangements and now support the Regional Negotiating Machinery directly.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Transmission Institutional Strengthening Project in India;
	(2)  what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Power Sector Reform Institutional Strengthening Distribution Project in India;
	(3)  what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Andhra Pradesh Power Sector Reform Institutional Strengthening Project in India.

Clare Short: Power sector reform is a key development challenge for India. In many states, power subsidies take a large proportion of the government budget, squeezing out expenditure on anti-poverty programmes. A high quality power supply is also critical for economic growth.
	DFID is supporting the reform and restructuring of the power sector in three states, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. Power sector reform is highly complex and also new to India, and assistance has been requested from DFID and other donors to help design and carry forward the structural changes needed to reform the sector and place it on a proper commercial footing.
	In all three states, DFID is making available assistance, including experts with international experience of successfully carrying out similar work, following competitive tendering processes to ensure maximum value for money. Most of the support so far has been provided by Indian experts, even when international companies have been engaged. Expatriate inputs are limited to specialist areas where international experience is of greatest benefit and local expertise is not available. These are long term projects, designed to respond flexibly to local needs. They are reviewed regularly, including market comparisons to ensure that value for money is maintained.
	In Andhra Pradesh, considerable progress has been made in helping the state government achieve its objectives on power reform, but the process has been more difficult and has taken longer than originally envisaged.
	In Orissa, DFID assistance to the state grid company finished when the company was privatised. We continue to support the Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission and also the Orissa Transmission Company. Both of these programmes are making good progress.
	In Madhya Pradesh, DFID has been asked to provide assistance with power sector reform and competitive tendering process is underway to identify suitable expertise.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Support for Improving Corporate Services and Management in the Rwanda Revenue Authority Project.

Clare Short: Since 1997 my Department has committed almost £11 million in support of the Rwanda Revenue Project. This particular project began in September 1999 and finished in March 2002, with a budget of £2.3 million.
	In April 2000, DFID concluded that management capacity problems in the RRA were more severe than at first thought and DFID inputs were increased accordingly. By the end of the project, we had succeeded in reforming the corporate services and management of the RRA. Proper financial organisation had been put in place; and information technology strategy had been developed and implemented; training in internal audit procedures had been completed; the RRA were acting on the recommendations made in an organisation and staffing review; and the RRA had a corporate plan in place, against which they were measuring their own performance.
	Our assessment is that this project has achieved good value for money. The management reforms are significant and have contributed to a major improvement in revenue collection More still needs to be done at senior and middle management level, but the basic corporate structures are now in place.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Rural Access Programme in Nepal.

Clare Short: The Rural Access Programme in Nepal is an ambitious programme of rural transport infrastructure and related activities aimed at eliminating rural poverty. It is being implemented over a six year period that has only just started. It is therefore too early to judge the value for money achievements of the whole programme at this time.
	An inception review of the programme was completed in April. This review took into account the current conflict situation in Nepal and the impact on programme implementation; how more immediate impact can be achieved for communities affected by conflict; and the approach to the provision of technical assistance.
	The outcome of this review is that there will be improved modalities for working in conflict affected areas and on conflict issues. This will include working with organisation with an established local presence and by strengthening and empowering existing groups and adopting working methods that bridge the divides giving rise to the current conflict. Also, there will be a reduction in the numbers of international consultants without compromising quality and supervision, through a more rapid localisation of key positions in the technical assistance team.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Technical Co-operation Training-Nigeria, Cameroon and the Gambia Project.

Clare Short: The Technical Co-operation Training Programmes (TCTP) for these three countries came under DFID's global TCTP, which provided a centrally administered mechanism for giving training awards to overseas candidates linked to our individual country programmes. The programmes in these countries have now ended. Value for money considerations were taken into account when the contract for running the global programme was awarded to the managing agent. The impact of the training in terms of contribution to individual project objectives in Nigeria, Cameroon and the Gambia was assessed as part of our regular project monitoring procedures.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Improving Rural Livelihood in North and East Uganda project.

Clare Short: An independent project review of DFID's support to the Improving Rural Livelihood in North and East Uganda project was undertaken in May 2001. It reported that, overall, the project outputs were likely to be largely achieved. In particular, the capacity for client-oriented research, technology transfer, and the development of technology approaches and systems have improved. A further review will be conducted in June 2002.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Support for Improving Tax Administration in the Rwanda Authority project.

Clare Short: Since 1997 my Department has committed almost £11 million in support of the Rwanda Revenue project. The specific project referred to in the question began in September 1999 and finished in August 2001, with a budget of over £2 million.
	An improvement in revenue collection became clear from late 2000. During the last year of the project the VAT department exceeded its revenue targets, the RRA modernised its tax and customs departments and revenue collections were also on target. It is our assessment that this project has achieved good value for money, initially through rebuilding the capacity of the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) which had been shattered by the genocide, and then through significant improvements in revenue collection.
	The Rwandan Minister of Finance has described the project as DFID's most important support to Rwanda. However, more work remains to be done if the RRA's improved performance is to be sustained. DFID has therefore extended its support to the RRA through a new project, which runs from October 2001 to December 2003.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Technical Assistance for Public Enterprise Reform in Orissa project in India.

Clare Short: Technical Assistance for Public Enterprise Reform in Orissa is a component of the Orissa Public Sector Reforms project, the purpose of which is to help the Government of Orissa allocate increased resources to the needs of the poor and improve the effectiveness of its resource use in order to reduce poverty. The assistance has been provided by international consultants selected following a competitive tendering process; Indian experts are also involved. An independent evaluation of the project was conducted in November 2001. It included both value for money considerations and technical review. It concluded that the project had progressed well and was providing value for money.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Technical Assistance for the Introduction of Value Added Tax in Andhra Pradesh Project in India.

Clare Short: Introduction of VAT is a complex and difficult process and DFID was asked for technical assistance to help the Government of Andhra Pradesh ensure that they were ready to implement the new system by the original target date of April 2002.
	International consultants have been utilised in designing the process in areas where local expertise was not available. They were selected through a competitive tendering exercise to ensure maximum value for money. Much of the assistance has been provided by Indian experts.
	DFID has regularly monitored the project. The last annual review in December 2001 concluded that the project was completely on track, resulting in Andhra Pradesh being one of the few states in India ready for the target date. The Government of India has since decided to delay VAT implementation to April 2003 as many states were not ready.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Western India Rainfed Farming Project Phase II.

Clare Short: Phase 1 of the Western India Rainfed Farming project gave an economic rate of return of about 40 per cent. and had a substantial impact in reducing the poverty of over 50,000 poor tribal people. Phase II, which began in 1999, is expanding the coverage to over 500,000 people.
	The 2002 annual review of Phase II found that the project is well on the way to achieving its objectives, and is having a significant impact on the lives of the poor in the project area. An independent mid-term evaluation is planned for 2003. This will look further at a number of issues, including those relating to value for money.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Russian President's Management Training Initiative: Main Phase.

Clare Short: DFID awarded a three-year contract for the management of the Russian President's Management Training Initiative (Main Phase) to the British Council under a waiver of competition in March 1999. The waiver was granted at that time, as the British Council was the only UK company with the necessary expertise to undertake this work. In order to ensure the key consideration of value for money, a Project Compliance Investigation was undertaken prior to contracting which confirmed that the British Council costs offered value for money. A comprehensive review of the performance of the project was undertaken by DFID's Eastern Europe and Central Asia Department in June 2001. The review team concluded that the project has been going well and its purpose "to achieve improvements in the performance of 540 enterprise managers" was likely to be completely or largely achieved and still offered value for money.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Provision of Technical Co-operation Training Services Project in Kenya.

Clare Short: There is no Provision of Technical Co-operation Training Services Project in Kenya. Training is included as a component in many projects funded by my Department in Kenya. Its value for money is routinely assessed as part of DFID's monitoring and evaluation of each project.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Smallholder Dairy Project Phase II in Kenya.

Clare Short: The last assessment of the Smallholder Dairy Project Phase II was made in March 2002. Its preliminary findings were that the project is on target to achieve its goal of giving poor dairy farmers improved access to goods, services and markets; and other farmers access to agricultural knowledge services.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Bulgaria: Solid Waste Management Project.

Clare Short: This project was formally reviewed in June 2001 and has been monitored on a regular basis since then. It is an institutional building project at municipal level to improve the management and delivery of municipal services. DFID assessments have been very positive and have shown that the project has provided value for money in terms of (i) its impact on the two focus municipalities of Kardjali and Lom to help strengthen their management capacity to deal with municipal planning, and budgeting and also a wider impact of strengthening links between central Government and the municipal authorities and (ii) successfully providing the Kardjali authorities with technical assistance and expertise in support of the development of a multi-million euro ISPA (Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-accession) project which is expected to be approved by the EC and its IFI partners in the near future.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Privatisation and Capital Market Development Project in Bosnia.

Clare Short: The project ended in March. We are arranging a final review.
	The project was last reviewed in October 2001. This was one of a series of regular reviews arranged to monitor progress on the project and to agree modifications to it as appropriate. The project's original objectives of supporting capital markets development were affected by the failure of the entities to proceed with large company and mass privatisation. We have also attempted to fill gaps in assistance caused by the failure of other donors to provide agreed inputs.
	This was a complex project operating in difficult circumstances. We shall make a judgment on its overall value for money in the light of the planned review.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Caribbean Overseas Territories Government Accounting Reform Project in Anguilla.

Clare Short: The project aims to modernise financial and accounting policies, systems and procedures in support of better management of Government business and improved accountability, transparency and effectiveness of Government activity. In Anguilla, up-to-date financial accounting systems were successfully commissioned in the Treasury Department and the Ministry of Finance in January 2001; and we are considering further possible support to provide on-line access for other Anguillan Government Departments. The real test of project success will be the extent to which the information and data that it provides is used effectively. It is too early properly to assess this, but we shall be monitoring progress carefully.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Technical Co-operation Training Programme, 1999–2000 and 2001–02 in Jamaica.

Clare Short: The Technical Co-operation Training Scheme for Jamaica came under DFID's global TCTP, which provided a centrally administered mechanism for giving training awards to overseas candidates linked to our individual country programmes. The programme in Jamaica ended in 1998. Value for money considerations were taken into account when the contract for running the global programme was awarded to the managing agent. The impact of the training in terms of contribution to individual project objectives in Jamaica was assessed as part of our regular project monitoring procedures.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Adult Morbidity and Mortality Project Phase II in Tanzania.

Clare Short: The Adult Morbidity and Mortality Project (Phase 2) provides quality health and poverty data from four selected districts, which is used to inform national public policies. In Tanzania, like many low income countries, vital registration systems are barely used, and large scale surveys can only be undertaken every five years or so. An independent review in August 2001 confirmed the viability and cost-effectiveness of the model.

Overseas Projects

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Jamaica Performance Improvement Project.

Clare Short: As with all DFID funded initiatives, the Jamaica Performance Improvement Project is subject to regular review. The next review is scheduled to take place in May 2002.
	The project has been recently extended and in order to ensure value for money we have put out components to competitive tender whenever it is practical to do so.

India

Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance her Department is giving to help reconstruction in the Gujarat region of India following the earthquake in January 2001.

Clare Short: DFID's priority was to ensure that those who survived the earthquake were cared for until normal services could be restored, for which we set aside £10 million. The Government of India developed plans for the rehabilitation and reconstruction, which are being largely funded by the World bank and the Asian Development bank. DFID is not directly financing reconstruction work.

Bangladesh

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Financial Management Academy Project in Bangladesh.

Clare Short: The objective of this project is to improve the financial management capacity of the Government of Bangladesh by helping it to institutionalise effective training in financial management. The project commenced in May 1999.
	In addition to close monitoring by the DFID office in Bangladesh, the project was independently evaluated in August 2001. The evaluation concluded that the project had made good progress in its first two years towards building FIMA into a national resource for financial management training.

West Bank and Gaza

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Assistance to the Palestinian Negotiations Affairs Department Project in the west bank and Gaza.

Clare Short: The purpose of this project is to help build Negotiations Affairs Department capacity and ensure effective preparation for final status talks with Israel. It is a key component in supporting the middle east peace process. We are in regular contact with both the project managers and the Palestinian Authority to review and ensure its continued progress. This is being achieved through a flexible and responsive approach to the timing of specific inputs, taking account of the changing political situation. A number of international partners have commented positively on the dynamism and quality of the project staff.

Uganda

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Integrated Lake Management Project in Uganda.

Clare Short: An independent project review of DFID's support to the Integrated Lake Management Project was undertaken in September 2001. The review reported that overall, the project outputs and purpose, in terms of an integrated Lake Management Plan and supporting institutional frameworks, are likely to be achieved on Lake George. Lake Kyoga is a more complex system. However, there are early, encouraging signs that the project purpose can also be achieved on this Lake. A further review will be conducted in September 2002.

Debt

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what discussions she has had with developing country Governments during the last six months regarding definitions of debt sustainability;
	(2)  how her Department defines debt sustainability.

Clare Short: There is no single definition of debt sustainability, which can be applied to all developing countries. For the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC), the international community has agreed two transparent thresholds: the net present value (NPV) of external debt should be below 150 per cent. of export earnings and 250 per cent. of Government revenues.
	We regularly discuss these issues with developing countries. We have also funded two meetings this year at which representatives from the HIPC countries debated these issues and fed their views into the on-going evaluation of the HIPC initiative by the Operations Evaluation Department of the World bank.

Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of the debts owed by heavily indebted poor countries constitutes debts owed to the IDA.

Clare Short: The share of the estimated costs attributed to the World bank group (including IDA) for the HIPC initiative is US$8.1 billion in 2001 net present value terms, out of the total costs of US$36.4 billion.

Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what action her Department is taking to ensure that the costs of the structural adjustment programmes of the HIPC Initiative are not borne disproportionately by the poor;
	(2)  what evidence her Department has collated on the impact that the structural adjustment programmes of the HIPC initiative has had on economic growth rates of each of the HIPC countries;
	(3)  what contribution the structural adjustment programmes of the HIPC Initiative has made to the good of poverty reduction.

Clare Short: The enhanced heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative, which was agreed in September 1999, provides deeper debt relief to poor countries committed to eradicating poverty. Up to $100 billion debt could be written off for the 42 HIPC countries, reducing their debts by more than two thirds. On average, the 26 countries that have already qualified for HIPC relief will spend three times more on the social sectors in 2002–05 than on debt service over the same period.
	An important feature of the HIPC initiative is the recognition of the link between debt relief and poverty reduction in order to ensure the poor benefit from debt relief. Governments are developing national poverty reduction strategies, involving civil society and international donors, specifying how resources, including savings from debt relief, will be spent. As part of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) approach, the World bank and IMF have committed to undertaking poverty and social impact analysis (PSIA) of major macroeconomic and structural reforms likely to have significant impact on the poor. The World bank and IMF are leading a programme of work on PSIA and are realigning their programmes with PRSPs in these countries. We are supporting this work by piloting PSIA studies in six countries. We are also working with partner countries on their PRSPs, through our bilateral programmes.

Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the impact of falling commodity prices on debt sustainability; and whether she has changed her assessment of debt sustainability levels of heavily indebted poor countries accordingly;
	(2)  how levels of debt sustainability calculated by the HIPC Initiative were changed by the events of 11 September.

Clare Short: We have been following closely the impact of falling commodity prices on developing countries since well before the events of 11 September. At the annual meetings of the World bank and IMF in Ottawa last November, we raised this concern and asked bank and fund staff to revisit the debt sustainability analyses of all commodity dependent low-income countries, including HIPCs. The IMF and World bank analysis, published last month, shows that, although the situation varies from country to country, the external debt indicators for most HIPC countries have deteriorated, and several HIPC countries now face unsustainable debt burdens. Following UK pressure, the World bank and IMF boards have agreed to provide additional relief to countries in this situation. This was reconfirmed at the spring meetings last month.

Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what recent discussions she has had with World bank officials regarding the structural adjustment programmes of the HIPC initiative;
	(2)  what recent discussions she has had with the heavily indebted poor country Governments regarding the structural adjustment programmes of the HIPC initiative.

Clare Short: At last month's spring meetings of the IMF and World bank apart form my attendance at the Development Committee which is also attended by many World bank officials, I also met James Wolfensohn, president of the World bank, to discuss among other things progress on the enhanced heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative and the implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) process. The international community remains committed to vigorous implementation and full financing of the initiative. It has been recognised that support is needed to integrate poverty and social impact analysis (PSIA) into national poverty reduction strategies. The bank and fund are leading a programme of work on PSIA and are aligning their programmes with PRSPs in the poorest countries. My Department is supporting this work by piloting PSIA studies in six countries.
	I regularly meet Ministers from HIPC countries to discuss key issues affecting their development, including debt relief.

Budget Allocations

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will break down her Department's budget for 2000 and 2001 into the amount allocated for (a) the HIPC initiative, (b) bilateral aid and (c) multilateral aid.

Clare Short: Detailed figures for expenditure by calendar year are not readily available. Allocations for the 2000–01 and 2001–02 financial years were as follows:
	
		£ million 
		
			  2000–01(33) 2001–02(34) 
		
		
			 Total DFID development budget 3,252.5 3,581.0 
			 of which:   
			 Bilateral assistance 1,388.0 1,734.1 
			
			 Multilateral assistance 1,776.5 1,737.2 
			 of which:   
			 HIPC initiative 28.0 24.5 
			
			 Administration and other 88.0 109.7 
		
	
	(33) Outturn
	(34) Estimated
	Source:
	DFID departmental report 2002
	DFID's expenditure on the HIPC initiative as detailed in the table includes an element of technical co-operation as well as our direct contribution to the HIPC trust fund for the international costs of debt relief. Our share of EC payments to the HIPC trust fund over the past two years amounts to an additional £46.0 million—this expenditure also counts as part of DFID's multilateral assistance, but a breakdown by year is not yet available.
	The majority of the Government's expenditure on HIPC is in relation to the cancellation of commercial debts, and is not my Department's responsibility, although it does count towards our oda/GNI figure.

Data Protection Act

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will place in the Library copies of each version of the internal guidance which have been drawn up by her Department since 1 January 1999 to assist staff in her Department to answer subject access requests under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Clare Short: Guidance for staff on all aspects of the Data Protection Act 1998 was produced by the Department for International Development in July 2001 and is available on the Department's intranet. A copy will be placed in the Library.

African Development Bank

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with the directors of the African Development bank regarding their lending policy.

Clare Short: Discussions with directors are conducted at official level. The lending policy of the bank is being reviewed and discussed by officials representing the UK and other donors in the context of the ninth replenishment of the African Development Fund, negotiations on which are currently under way.

Chechnya

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support her Department gives to aid agencies working in Chechnya.

Clare Short: DFID has proved the following assistance to aid agencies work in Chechnya:
	
		
			  Aid agencies Amount committed 2001 (£)  Purpose 
		
		
			 Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) 144,285 To cover shortfall for 2001. 
			 Office of the United Nations Security Coordinator (UNSECOORD) 142,857 To support an additional field security officer. 
			 United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) 280,000 To enable UNICEF to continue to strengthen its activities, which are focused on education, mine action and water and sanitation. 
			 World Health Organisation (WHO) 800,000 To provide support to WHO activities through the United Nations Consolidated Appeal Process 2001. 
			 International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) 1,000,000 An additional contribution to its programmes in the region, focused on essential humanitarian support. 
			 World Food Programme (WFP) 400,000 To support with the current pipeline problems.

Chechnya

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the conditions in Chechen refugee camps in Ingushetia.

Clare Short: My Department closely monitors the humanitarian situation in the North Caucasus, including Ingushetia. Assessments by UN agencies and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Ingushetia of the situation in camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) indicate that the situation for IDPs resident in Ingushetia is stable in terms of morbidity and mortality, and that there are no major outstanding humanitarian needs. But agencies agree that a full package of humanitarian assistance will continue to be required in light of the highly dependent nature of this population, and that the quality of assistance provided through humanitarian agencies within the Republic needs to be improved. We are addressing these needs through constant dialogue with, and through financial support to, the UN agencies and INGOs working in the region.

Chechnya

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of health needs in Chechnya, with special reference to the prevalence of tuberculosis.

Clare Short: According to research by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) food, clothing and shelter are the top priority needs for internally displaced people (IDPs) and vulnerable persons in Chechnya. Tuberculosis is not currently listed as a priority.
	Basic health care is provided in numerous small health care centres, but the level of care is not known. ICRC's recent street survey showed that in Grozny out of 1,913 persons, 86.6 per cent. said they were in good health and in the rural areas out of 2,248 persons, 89.6 per cent. said they were in good health. The cost of drugs and health care has frequently been mentioned as a problem in ICRC focus groups.
	Aid agencies are reluctant to start tuberculosis programmes in Chechnya when there is so much movement by IDPs because effective treatment requires continuing treatment which is very difficult to provide to shifting populations.

Bilateral Aid

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of total UK bilateral aid each low-income country received in (a) 1999–2000 and (b) 2000–01; and how much each received in 1999–2000.

Clare Short: The information requested in given in the table. The figures have been provided in respect of calendar years as this is the basis on which statistics on official development assistance are collected.
	
		Bilateral official development assistance to low income countries -- £million
		
			 Recipient UK oda Percentage of total UK oda 
		
		
			 1999   
			 Afghanistan 3.72 0.3 
			 Angola 2.20 0.2 
			 Armenia 0.82 0.1 
			 Azerbaijan 0.74 0.1 
			 Bangladesh 71.02 5.1 
			 Benin 0.97 0.1 
			 Bhutan 0.01 0.0 
			 Burkina Faso 0.30 0.0 
			 Burma 0.71 0.1 
			 Burundi 0.47 0.0 
			 Cambodia 4.64 0.3 
			 Cameroon 6.84 0.5 
			 Central African Republic 0.01 0.0 
			 Chad 0.00 0.0 
			 China 36.62 2.6 
			 Comoros 0.02 0.0 
			 Congo Democratic Republic 1.50 0.1 
			 Congo Republic 3.20 0.2 
			 Cote d'Ivoire 0.86 0.1 
			 Eritrea 0.43 0.0 
			 Ethiopia 7.44 0.5 
			 Gambia 1.20 0.1 
			 Ghana 56.73 4.1 
			 Guinea 0.54 0.0 
			 Guinea-Bissau 0.01 0.0 
			 Haiti 0.00 0.0 
			 Honduras 2.05 0.1 
			 India 81.39 5.9 
			 Indonesia 25.13 1.8 
			 Kenya 34.01 2.4 
			 Kyrgyz Republic 0.98 0.1 
			 Laos 0.55 0.0 
			 Lesotho 2.71 0.2 
			 Liberia 0.67 0.0 
			 Madagascar 0.53 0.0 
			 Malawi 47.76 3.4 
			 Mali 0.74 0.1 
			 Mauritania 0.20 0.0 
			 Moldova 0.66 0.0 
			 Mongolia 0.42 0.0 
			 Mozambique 30.55 2.2 
			 Nepal 16.33 1.2 
			 Nicaragua 3.62 0.3 
			 Niger 0.79 0.1 
			 Nigeria 12.97 0.9 
			 Pakistan 24.40 1.8 
			 Rwanda 16.40 1.2 
			 Sao Tome and Principe 0.00 0.0 
			 Senegal 0.45 0.0 
			 Sierra Leone 10.59 0.8 
			 Somalia 1.29 0.1 
			 Sudan 8.15 0.6 
			 Tajikistan 0.08 0.0 
			 Tanzania 54.78 3.9 
			 Togo 0.35 0.0 
			 Turkmenistan 0.10 0.0 
			 Uganda 59.57 4.3 
			 Viet Nam 5.16 0.4 
			 Yemen 1.09 0.1 
			 Zambia 39.30 2.8 
			 Zimbabwe 16.29 1.2 
			
			 2000   
			 Afghanistan 8.36 0.5 
			 Angola 5.46 0.3 
			 Armenia 1.82 0.1 
			 Azerbaijan 0.50 0.0 
			 Bangladesh 68.28 3.8 
			 Benin 0.09 0.0 
			 Bhutan 0.01 0.0 
			 Burkina Faso 0.30 0.0 
			 Myanmar (Burma) 0.69 0.0 
			 Burundi 1.15 0.1 
			 Cambodia 8.61 0.5 
			 Cameroon 5.33 0.3 
			 Central African Republic 0.01 0.0 
			 Chad 0.27 0.0 
			 China 55.12 3.1 
			 Comoros 0.02 0.0 
			 Congo Democratic Republic (Zaire) 5.30 0.3 
			 Congo Republic 0.03 0.0 
			 Cote d'Ivoire 0.72 0.0 
			 Eritrea 0.75 0.0 
			 Ethiopia 7.50 0.4 
			 Gambia 1.39 0.1 
			 Ghana 52.79 2.9 
			 Guinea 0.26 0.0 
			 Guinea-Bissau 0.10 0.0 
			 Haiti 0.01 0.0 
			 Honduras 0.63 0.0 
			 India 134.87 7.5 
			 Indonesia 22.37 1.2 
			 Kenya 48.30 2.7 
			 Kyrgyz Republic 1.44 0.1 
			 Laos 1.40 0.1 
			 Lesotho 2.97 0.2 
			 Liberia 2.17 0.1 
			 Madagascar 1.40 0.1 
			 Malawi 64.01 3.6 
			 Mali 0.66 0.0 
			 Mauritania 0.65 0.0 
			 Moldova 0.73 0.0 
			 Mongolia 0.50 0.0 
			 Mozambique 54.61 3.1 
			 Nepal 15.20 0.8 
			 Nicaragua 1.14 0.1 
			 Niger 1.05 0.1 
			 Nigeria 15.12 0.8 
			 Pakistan 15.67 0.9 
			 Rwanda 34.79 1.9 
			 Sao Tome and Principe 0.00 0.0 
			 Senegal 1.58 0.1 
			 Sierra Leone 45.13 2.5 
			 Somalia 0.72 0.0 
			 Sudan 3.79 0.2 
			 Tajikistan 0.05 0.0 
			 Tanzania 100.89 5.6 
			 Togo 0.28 0.0 
			 Turkmenistan 0.09 0.0 
			 Uganda 143.07 8.0 
			 Viet Nam 5.24 0.3 
			 Yemen 3.02 0.2 
			 Zambia 73.60 4.1 
			 Zimbabwe 13.36 0.7 
		
	
	Source:
	DAC Online database.

Parliamentary Questions

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  how many staff were involved in each of the last three years in preparing draft answers to written parliamentary questions;
	(2)  what the cost was to her Department of answering written parliamentary questions in 2001; and how that cost was calculated.

Clare Short: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House on 17 April 2002, Official Report, column 929W.

Middle East

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures she is taking to ensure that Palestinians are able to access essential medical care and treatment during the current crisis.

Clare Short: We have made clear to Israel at the highest level that we expect them to ensure that medical and humanitarian organisations and consular staff have uninterrupted access to those in need. The Foreign Secretary has stressed these concerns to Israeli Foreign Minister Peres on several occasions.

Performance Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the target has been in each of the last five years for efficiency savings as a percentage of total running costs for each of the non- departmental public bodies for which she is responsible; and if the target was met.

Clare Short: My Department is responsible for three non-departmental public bodies. They incur no substantial running costs other than reimbursement of the travel expenses of members attending meeting which are essentially fixed costs. Targets for efficiency savings are therefore unnecessary.

LORD CHANCELLOR

Justices of the Peace

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many members of staff at his Department are justices of the peace; and if he has a strategy for his Department to encourage members of staff to become justices of the peace.

Michael Wills: There are currently 16 members of staff in my Department who are Justices of the Peace. My Department fully supports those who are appointed as magistrates. All members of staff are entitled to 18 days special leave to undertake their duties as a magistrate, if they are appointed. The National Strategy for recruitment of magistrates will seek in part to encourage employers generally to be supportive of employees who wish to be magistrates.

Performance Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the target has been in each of the last five years for efficiency savings as a percentage of total running costs for each of the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible; and if the target was met.

Michael Wills: Of the non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) for which the Department is responsible, the majority are Advisory or Tribunal NDPBs which we support directly, not through a grant or grant in aid. Targets for efficiency savings specifically for these NDPBs would therefore not be possible as their staff are not distinct from the main Department and cannot therefore be targeted separately.
	The Department is responsible for three Executive NDPBs: the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS), the Legal Services Commission (LSC) and the Office of the Information Commissioner.
	CAFCASS was established only in April 2001, and it would therefore not yet be appropriate to set targets for efficiency savings. It is planned that CAFCASS will have a performance measure from 2003–04.
	Information about the performance of the LSC can be found it its most recent annual report, which is available in the House Library.
	The Information Commissioner does not set targets for efficiency savings in relation to savings as a percentage of total running costs. She sets a target for efficiency savings in three areas of the work of her office:
	The number of weighted notification transactions processed per officer day;
	The number of assessments completed and complaints closed per officer day; and
	The number of telephone calls received per line hour.
	In each case productivity gains of 2 per cent. have been included within the target, which is set to take account of changes in legislation and working practices. Performance against these targets over the last five years for which figures are available is shown in the following tables.
	
		Data for the Office of the Information Commissioner
		
			  Actual Target Target met/missed 
		
		
			  Weighted notification transactions processed per officer day 
			 1996–97 49.37 46.26 Met 
			 1997–98 51.32 46.71 Met 
			 1998–99 48.74 50.88 Missed 
			 1999–2000 47.02 55.64 Missed 
			 2000–01 52.48 50.76 Met 
			 
			  Assessments completed and complaints closed per officer day 
			 1996–97 0.82 0.81 Met 
			 1997–98 0.81 0.82 Missed 
			 1998–99 0.79 0.86 Missed 
			 1999–2000 0.74 0.92 Missed 
			 2000–01 0.87 0.92 Missed 
			 
			  Number of telephone calls received per line hour 
			 1996–97 11.75 11.75 Met 
			 1997–98 11.77 11.81 Missed 
			 1998–99 8.80 12.25 Missed 
			 1999–2000 8.72 8.80 Missed 
			 2000–01 9.06 8.82 Met 
		
	
	Note:
	These figures are drawn from the annual reports of the Information Commissioner (previously the Data Protection Commissioner and Data Protection Registrar), which are available in the Library of the House.

1901 Census

Edward Davey: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what trigger points exist in the contract for the 1901 Census website for the Public Record Office to end the contract with QinetiQ for failure to meet their contractual obligations.

Rosie Winterton: Officials in the PRO are in very frequent contact with their contractors QinetiQ Ltd, with a view to relaunching the online service as soon as this is practicable. There are a number of trigger points contained in the contract, but at the present time the PRO is concentrating its efforts on monitoring and evaluating the enhancement and testing work being carried out by QinetiQ on the census website. The PRO's top priority is to ensure that the relaunched service provides a consistently good service to users.

1901 Census

Edward Davey: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what estimate the Department has for the date for the re-launch of the 1901 Census website.

Rosie Winterton: QinetiQ Ltd is continuing to work on the technical enhancements, which are intended to make the site sufficiently robust to permit general Internet access and are being conducted with a sense of urgency. Once configuring of the technical enhancements is complete, rigorous testing will be undertaken on all aspects of the system. However, the most important consideration is to ensure that the service is re-launched successfully. The system will again be made available to designated service centres as part of the general re-introduction of the site. General on-line searches will be available as soon as practicable following testing and availability at the service centres.

1901 Census

Nick Gibb: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the availability of the 1901 Census online.

Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I have given on several occasions, and most recently to the hon. Member for Slough on the 12 April 2002, Official Report, column 647W.

King Edward VIII

Louise Ellman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to release the remaining records relating to King Edward VIII.

Rosie Winterton: Any papers relating to King Edward VIII, which have not yet been released, will need to be re-reviewed by departments. It is hoped that the results of the review will be known and put into effect by the end of the year.

Ministerial Training

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much has been spent by her Department on training in leadership skills for Ministers and officials in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor's Department has spent the following amounts on training in leadership skills for officials in each of the last five years:
	
		
			   £ 
		
		
			 2001–02 451,491 
			 2000–01 351,703 
			 1999–2000 157,740 
			 1998–99 (35)165,000 
			 1997–98 Nil 
		
	
	(35) This is the total amount spent on training consultancy during 1998–99, which includes some expenditure on leadership skills training.
	During the period 2000–02, the Lord Chancellor's Department utilised £250,000 from the Invest to Modernise Fund, established by the Cabinet Office to support training in leadership skills as part of the civil service reform programme. This amount is included in the above figures.

National Insurance

Andrew Turner: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what her estimate is of the cost in the next 12 months of the Budget changes to employers' national insurance contributions to (a) her Department, (b) agencies of her Department and (c) local government carrying out functions within the responsibility of her Department.

Rosie Winterton: This answer covers the headquarters of the Lord Chancellor's Department (including associated offices), the Court Service and Public Guardianship Office.
	It is estimated that the changes to employers' national insurance contributions announced in the Budget will increase pay costs on average by 0.7 per cent. next year.

Criminal Damage

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the cost has been of criminal damage to her Department's buildings in each of the last four years.

Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor's Department does not hold specific records of the cost of criminal damage to buildings. Any repair costs incurred are met from contingency funds allocated to cover all reactive maintenance works of which criminal damage would be only one example. It would incur a disproportionate cost to the Department to break down the volume of repairs made and allocate them to specific causes.

Delegated Legislation

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the cost-effectiveness of the Greater London Magistrates' Courts Authority (Funding) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Magistrates' Courts (Transfer of Justices: Clerks' Functions) (Miscellaneous) (Amendments) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Legal Advice and Assistance (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(4)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Crown Court (Amendment) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(5)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Criminal Appeal (Amendment) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(6)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Criminal Defence Service (Recovery of Defence Costs Orders) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(7)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Costs in Criminal Cases (General) (Amendment) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(8)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the European Communities (Matrimonial Jurisdiction and Judgments) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(9)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Legal Advice and Assistance (Amendment) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(10)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Access to Justice Act 1999 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(11)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Membership, Committee and Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(12)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Magistrates' Courts (Children and Young Persons) (Amendment) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(13)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Land Registration Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(14)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Justices of the Peace (Commission Areas) (Amendment) Order 2001; and if she will make a statement.
	(15)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Community Legal Service (Funding) (Counsel in Family Proceedings) Order 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(16)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Legal Advice and Assistance (Score) (Amendment) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(17)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Court of Protection Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(18)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the European Communities (Matrimonial Jurisdiction and Judgments) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(19)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Community Legal Service (Cost Protection) (Amendment) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(20)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Family Proceedings Courts (Children Act 1989) (Amendment) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(21)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Magistrates' Courts (Detection and Forfeiture of Terrorist Cash) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(22)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the European Communities (Lawyer's Practice) (Amendment) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(23)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Public Record Office (Fees) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(24)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Magistrates' Courts (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(25)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Civil Legal Aid (General) (Amendment) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(26)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Legal Aid in Family Proceedings (Remuneration) (Amendment) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(27)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Pensions Appeal Tribunals (England and Wales) (Amendment) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(28)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Petty Sessions Areas (Divisions and Names) (Amendment) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(29)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Adoption (Amendment) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(30)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Justices' Chief Executives (Accounts) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(31)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Conduct of Litigation and Exercise of Rights of Audience) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(32)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Family Law Reform Act 1987 (Commencement No. 3) Order 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(33)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Greater London Magistrates' Courts Authority (Provision of Court Houses) Order 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(34)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Access to Justice Act 1999 (Transfer of Justices' Clerks' Functions) Order 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(35)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Community Legal Service (Financial) (Amendment) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(36)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Magistrates' Courts Committee Areas (Amendment) Order 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(37)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Family Proceedings Courts (Family Law Act 1986) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(38)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Crown Court (Amendment) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(39)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Solicitors' Incorporated Practices (Amendment) Order 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(40)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Access to Justice Act 1999 (Commencement No. 7, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(41)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Magistrates' Courts (Adoption) (Amendment) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(42)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Community Legal Service (Costs) (Amendment) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(43)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Magistrates' Courts (Amendment) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(44)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Family Proceedings (Amendment) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(45)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Greater London Magistrates Courts Authority (Accounts and Audit) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(46)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Magistrates' Courts (Civilian Enforcement Officers) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(47)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (General) (Amendment) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(48)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Provision of Grants) Regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(49)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors (Professional Conduct) (Amendment) Rules 2001 Approval Order; and if she will make a statement;
	(50)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Local government (Magistrates' Courts etc.) (Amendment) Order 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(51)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Court of Protection (Enduring Powers of Attorney) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(52)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Magistrates' Courts (Forms) (Amendment) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(53)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (Procedure) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(54)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Children (Allocation of Proceedings) (Amendment) Order 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(55)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(56)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Petty Sessions Areas (Amendment) Order 2001; and if she will make a statement;
	(57)  what assessment she has made of the cost- effectiveness of the Court Funds (Amendment) Rules 2001; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Department makes an assessment of the costs and benefits of regulations when developing regulatory proposals. Where a regulatory proposal has an impact, in terms of costs, benefits and risks that affect businesses, charities and the voluntary sector, a regulatory impact assessment (RIA) is undertaken to inform policy development. Final RIAs are placed in the Libraries of both Houses when the regulation is presented to Parliament, but are not required for regulations where it has been assessed that no or negligible costs would be imposed or savings made, or those that increase statutory fees via a predetermined formula. Copies of final RIAs are available from the Libraries of both Houses.

WORK AND PENSIONS

European Union Directives

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the European Union directives and regulations relating to his Department that have been implemented in each of the last four years, specifying (a) the title and purpose of each, (b) the cost to public funds of each and (c) the cost to businesses of each.

Malcolm Wicks: The following EU legislation has been implemented:
	Council Directive 98/49/EC on safeguarding the supplementary pension rights of employed and self-employed persons moving within the Community was implemented ahead of the deadline of 25 July 2001.
	The regulation that implements the European Social Fund (ESF) for the 2000–06 period is Regulation (EC) No.1784/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council established on 12 July 1999.
	There have been three packages of Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations to Regulation (EEC) 1408/71 (Regulations (EC) 123/1998, 1399/1999 and 1386/2001). These are regular amendments to the EC regulations, which coordinate the operation of member states' social security schemes:
	123/98: Administrative changes.
	1399/99: Administrative changes.
	1386/01: Administrative changes.
	307/99: Extends the scope of the EC provisions on social security to cover students.
	Information on costs to public funds and to businesses is not held in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. It is limited to direct administration expenditure. Departments are required to produce regulatory impact assessments for proposals likely to impose significant costs on business. None was required for the above legislation.

Community Service Orders

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have lost benefit as a result of breaching their community service orders; and what the average loss of benefit has been, broken down into claimants of (a) income support, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) training allowances.

Malcolm Wicks: The community sentence and benefits measures aim to encourage greater compliance with community orders. Therefore sanctions apply only when people receiving the relevant benefit do not comply with their orders. The number of people who have lost benefit as a result of breaching their community orders is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Benefit Number of individuals Average weekly loss of benefit (£) 
		
		
			 Income support 16 16.31 
			 Jobseeker's allowance 23 40.72 
			 Training allowance 0 0 
			 Total 39 — 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All figures are unrounded.
	2. Data are based on clerical returns received at the DWP Information Centre between 15 October 2001 and 4 April 2002, relating to 15 October 2001 and 15 March 2002.
	3. Average weekly loss of benefit has been calculated on an individual recipient basis using the jobseeker's allowance payment system (JSAPS) and the income support computer system (ISCS).
	4. There are four probation service pilot areas, Derbyshire, Hertfordshire, Teesside and West Midlands.
	Source:
	CS Stats forms 1 and 2 (Withdrawal of Benefits Pilot) Information Centre, ASD

Community Service Orders

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent on the pilot scheme to reduce the benefits of people who breach their community service orders.

Malcolm Wicks: As of 5 April 2002, the cost to the Department of implementing the community sentences and benefits pilots running in four probation service areas was £314,350, approximately £262,000 being one-off initial set up costs, including changes to the national computer systems. At present, excluding the set-up costs of £262,000, the cost per sanction is approximately £1,340.

Benefits Offices (Security)

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) deaths, (b) serious injuries and (c) recorded incidence of verbal abuse there were in Benefits Agency offices in each of the last 10 years.

Nick Brown: holding answer 12 March 2002
	The available information on the number of incidents of verbal abuse occurring in Benefits Agency offices is in the table.
	
		Incidents of verbal abuse in Benefits Agency offices
		
			  Number of incidents 
		
		
			 1999 1,624 
			 2000 2,414 
			 2001 2,379 
		
	
	During this period there have been no deaths reported. For information on the number of assaults in Benefits Agency offices I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) on 13 March 2002, Official Report, column 1118W. Information is not available on the seriousness of any injuries received and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Child Poverty

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many families with at least one child below the age of five years were living in poverty in (a) 1997, (b) 1999 and (c) 2001, defined as those living in households with below 60 per cent. of median income.

Malcolm Wicks: Such information as is available is presented in the table.
	
		Number of families with one or more children under five years of age, living in households with below 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income -- million
		
			  Before housing costs After housing costs 
		
		
			 1996–97 0.7 1.0 
			 1997–98 0.6 0.9 
			 1998–99 0.6 0.9 
			 1999–2000 0.6 0.9 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All figures are estimates and are taken from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data set which is derived from the Family Resources Survey (FRS), which does not include Northern Ireland. The latest period for which data are available is the financial year 1999–2000.
	2. The estimates are sample counts, which have been adjusted for non-response using multipurpose grossing factors that control for tenure, council tax band and a number of other variables. Estimates are subject to both sampling error and to variability in non-response. The income measure used is weekly net (disposable) equivalised household income (that is to say income that is adjusted to reflect the composition of the household).
	3. The estimates are presented on both a Before Housing Costs (BHC) and an After Housing Costs (AHC) basis in line with HBAI conventions.
	Source:
	FRS

Child Poverty

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children in (a) 1997, (b) 1999 and (c) 2001 were living in households with an income below 60 per cent. of median.

Malcolm Wicks: Such information as is available can be found in the Households Below Average Income 1994–95 to 1999–2000 National Statistics Press Release, a copy of which is available in the Library.

Family Credit

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost was of administering family credit in its last full year.

Malcolm Wicks: The estimated cost of administering family credit in 1998–99 can be found in the "Social Security Departmental Report: The Government's Expenditure Plans 2000–01 to 2001–02", a copy of which is in the Library.

Child Support Agency

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in what order existing CSA cases will be moved over to the new system once it is implemented.

Malcolm Wicks: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 20 March 2002, Official Report, columns 315–16.

Benefit Statistics

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many families in (a) Alyn and Deeside and (b) Delyn are claiming (i) child benefit and (ii) income support.

Malcolm Wicks: The information is in the table.
	
		Families in the parliamentary constituencies of Alyn and Deeside and Delyn receiving child benefit or income support—November 2001
		
			   Alyn and Deeside Delyn 
		
		
			 Families receiving child benefit 9,900 8,600 
			 Families receiving income support 1,500 1,300 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	2. Figures for income support are based on a 5 per cent. sample and are subject to a degree of sampling variation.
	3. Families are defined as benefit recipients with one or more dependants.
	4. Families in receipt of income support will also be in receipt of child benefit.
	5. Cases are allocated to each parliamentary constituency by matching the postcode against the Office for National Statistics Postcode Directory. Constituency boundaries are represented as at May 1997.
	Source:
	Child benefit computer system 100 per cent. six monthly statistical enquiry, November 2001; Income Support 5 per cent. quarterly statistical enquiry, November 2001

Council Tax

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total value was of council tax benefit payments made in Scotland in each of the past three years.

Malcolm Wicks: The latest available information is in the table.
	
		Total value of council tax benefit payments in Scotland
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 1996–97 246 
			 1997–98 287 
			 1998–99 303 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures are rounded to the nearest £ million.
	Source:
	Pre-Budget report, September 2001.

Child Benefit Centre (Tyne and Wear)

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of telephone calls to the Child Benefit Centre in Washington, Tyne and Wear were charged at (a) national and (b) local call rates in the last 12 months.

Malcolm Wicks: All telephone calls to the Child Benefit Centre over the last 12 months were charged at the national call rate.

Automated Credit Transfer

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Government will save following the introduction of automated credit transfer for the delivery of benefits payments from 2003; and how much money the Government provide to post offices for administering benefits payments.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 29 April 2002
	The move to payment directly into bank and building society accounts assures a safe, convenient, more modern and efficient way of paying benefits and pensions and will bring very substantial savings. Against this, we will incur some additional costs, including those to Post Office Ltd. for the provision of the new card account at the Post Office. The precise costs will depend on the number of card accounts.

War Veterans

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what pensions and benefits are available for war veterans.

Lewis Moonie: I have been asked to reply.
	War veterans are entitled to claim the full range of benefits and pensions available to their civilian counterparts. In addition, war disablement pensions and armed forces pensions, in respect of ill health and retirement, are available to war veterans.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Central Office of Information

Tim Loughton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time staff have been employed at the Central Office of Information in each year since 1997; and at what cost.

Christopher Leslie: Staffing details for Central Office of Information are set out in the table.
	
		
			  Full time Part time Part time FTE(36) Total FTE(36) Cost £000 
		
		
			 1997 325 16 10 335 9,600 
			 1998 312 18 11 323 10,574 
			 1999 328 26 17 345 11,686 
			 2000 350 20 10 360 13,116 
			 2001 380 30 20 400 14,817 
		
	
	(36) Full-time equivalents

Public Appointments

Graham Allen: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people since May 1997 have placed themselves on the register for public appointments maintained by the Cabinet Office; how many of these have received a public appointment since May 1997; and how many public appointments for which the above register is maintained have been made since May 1997.

Christopher Leslie: The Public Appointments Unit in the Cabinet Office is responsible for maintaining and developing the Government's central register of people who have expressed an interest in serving on a public body. The register is made available to Government Departments via the Government's secure intranet, and is a resource on which they may draw when carrying out the process of making a public appointment.
	While the Public Appointments Unit does not itself make any appointments, it is consulted about several hundred appointments each year, though not approached about every opportunity that arises. Between 1 May 1997 and 24 April 2002, 2,515 people have been added to the register. The other information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Public Appointments

Anne Begg: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his responsibilities relating to senior and public appointments; and what progress has been made towards the Cabinet Office Diversity in Public Appointments policy and targets.

John Prescott: Cabinet Office Ministers make appointments to the following bodies sponsored by the Cabinet Office and its agencies:
	Advisory Committee on Advertising
	Advisory Committee on Business Appointments
	Better Regulation Taskforce
	Civil Service Appeal Board
	Committee on Standards in Public Life
	Honours Scrutiny Committee
	House of Lords Appointments Commission
	Security Commission
	Security Vetting Appeals Board
	Senior Salaries Review Board
	Women's National Commission.
	Appointments to the Equal Opportunities Commission which is sponsored by the Cabinet Office are made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.
	In addition the Minister for the Cabinet Office, in his capacity as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, makes appointments to the Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace in Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
	"Public Bodies: Opening Up Public Appointments 2002–05" sets out for each Department specific targets for increasing diversity on the boards of the public bodies it sponsors and the action that will be taken to ensure that the targets are met and for monitoring progress. Copies of the publication are available in the Library of the House.

Sponsorship

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 10 March 2002, Official Report, column 432W, on sponsorship, if he will place in the Library a copy of the internal sponsorship guidelines circulated to Departments in March 1999.

Christopher Leslie: I have placed copies of the guidelines circulated to Departments in March 1999 in the Libraries of the House. These guidelines have been superseded by "Guidance to Departments on Sponsorship of Government Activities", published in July 2000, copies of which are also available in the House Libraries.

Ministerial Private Offices

John Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the running costs were of (a) his Ministers' private offices, separately identifying expenditure on staff, and (b) his Department in each year from May 1997 to the nearest date for which the information is available.

Christopher Leslie: The running costs of Ministers' private offices, the Cabinet Office parliamentary branch and the ministerial correspondence and support team for each financial year from May 1997 to 2001–02 are set out in the table.
	
		(a) Ministers' private offices, the Cabinet Office parliamentary branch and the ministerial correspondence and support team
		
			   Total  
			 Financial year Number of private offices Paybill (£) Other running costs (£) Net running costs (£) 
		
		
			 May 1997 to 1998 3 814,076 348,938 1,173,014 
			 1998–99 3 933,122 435,740 1,368,862 
			 1999–2000 4 992,376 473,258 1,465,634 
			 2000–01 4 1,194,378 682,675 1,877,053 
			 2001–02(37) 6 1,376,306 797,130 2,173,436 
		
	
	(37) Figures for 2001–02 are provisional and subject to audit
	(b) Departmental expenditure
	Information on the Cabinet Office's annual running costs is set out in its published appropriation accounts and resource accounts, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

HEALTH

Meat Products

Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many incidents of spinal cord and other banned meat products have been detected in imported meat in the last three years.

Yvette Cooper: Since 1 January 2001 there have been 29 incidents involving the finding of specified risk material (SRM) in meat imported into the UK, of which 28 involved spinal cord. Prior to 1 October 2001, SRM cases were not recorded in a way that distinguished them from other breaches of import controls.
	Government records of breaches of import controls relate to all products of animal origin detained at border inspection posts, and do not distinguish meat and meat products from other products of animal origin. Since 1 January 2000 there have been a total of 1,205 such breaches. These cases involved a variety of failings, including the absence of the necessary health mark, or the general deterioration of the meat during unsatisfactory means of transportation. Records prior to 2000 are not available.
	The Food Standards Agency advises that the vast majority of consignments of meat imported into the UK fully meet the public health requirements for importation.

Glivec

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Scottish First Minister about Scottish NICE advice about glivec.

Hazel Blears: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not had any discussions with the Scottish First Minister about Scottish guidance on glivec.

Care Home Workers

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what measures he proposes to take to overcome delays in processing applications for screening criminal records of care home workers;
	(2)  what action his Department proposes to take to prevent the prosecution of care home managers as a result of the screening for criminal records of care home workers not being able to be completed due to the backlog of applications for screening; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: This Department and the National Care Standards Commission are in close contact with the Home Office and the Criminal Records Bureau about the processing of applications. In order to improve the throughput of applications the bureau is currently recruiting additional staff and redeploying others over 100 in all. The bureau is also reviewing its application processes to streamline them where possible without compromising security, for example returning incorrectly completed forms to the registered body before the application is entered onto the system.
	The decision as to whether or not to prosecute a registered provider or registered manager of a care home for employing someone in the home without receiving a criminal records disclosure as required under regulation 19 of the Care Homes Regulations 2001, will be a matter for the National Care Standards Commission. We expect the commission to consider each case separately. In doing so it will need to determine what other checks the employer undertook before employing the worker and whether or not they would have been in breach of other regulations or conditions of registration relating to staff numbers, or the health and welfare of service users, if they did not fill the vacancy. Where a registered person employs someone and deliberately fails to require that person to apply for a disclosure from the bureau we would expect the commission to seek prosecution for breach of the relevant requirements.

Care Home Workers

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many applications for screening for criminal records of care home workers have been (a) made, (b) completely processed and (c) awaiting processing, since the relevant regulations came into force;
	(2)  how many applications have been made for the screening for criminal records of care home workers since the requirement came into force;
	(3)  what the average time is that it has taken to process an application for the screening for criminal records of care home workers since the regulations came into force.

Jacqui Smith: The information about applications for disclosures for care home workers is not available in the form requested.

NHS Dentistry

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Government plan to publish their Options for Change: NHS Dentistry proposals; if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The Options for Change group, led by the Chief Dental Officer, and including key stakeholders, have submitted their draft recommendations to Ministers to restore national health service dentistry, building on the Government's strategy document "Modernising NHS Dentistry: Implementing the NHS Plan", published in September 2000.
	The ideas behind 'Options for Change' need practical testing and we announced on 25 April that we plan to set up demonstration sites across the country, with the assistance of the NHS Modernisation Agency. The sites will explore a variety of new methods for providing NHS dentistry, such as allowing primary care trusts to commission all NHS dental services and allowing dentists to choose to work in different ways at different times.
	We plan to publish a report on their work in due course.

Blood Donations

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many blood donations there were in (a) 2001 and (b) 2000.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 29 April 2002
	The National Blood Service has reported that the number of blood donations from April 1999 to March 2000 were 2,928,443 units and from April 2000 to March 2001 2,910,104 units were donated.

Blood Donations

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox) of 25 March 2002, Official Report, column 770W, on blood donations, what the Government are doing to encourage blood donations by those aged 17 to 20 years.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 29 April 2002
	The National Blood Service (NBS) is undertaking a number of activities to encourage blood donation by 17 to 20-year-olds. Blood donor sessions are taking place at sixth form colleges and universities. The NBS is also sending text messages to students about up and coming blood donor sessions, promoting blood donation at student fresher fayres and writing articles on blood donation for inclusion in student magazines.

MMR Vaccinations

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures his Department is taking to contact parents of children who have not received (a) the MMR vaccination and (b) appropriate single injections to urge them to have their children inoculated.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 29 April 2002
	In February the Department held a meeting of immunisation co-ordinators at which they were all asked to ensure the accuracy of their databases on MMR immunisations, especially for those children appearing not to have received this vaccination. A special initiative had already been undertaken in London districts to identify children who were apparently unimmunised. The 20 districts with the lowest MMR coverage have been asked specifically to concentrate efforts on identifying unimmunised children or those who have had incomplete courses of single vaccines, clarify their immunisation status, and provide information to their parents, if so wished.

Smoking

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with central and eastern European Governments on sharing smoking cessation campaigns information.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 29 April 2002
	On 18 and 19 February 2002, I attended the World Health Organisation's (WHO) ministerial conference on a tobacco-free Europe in Warsaw. I met with representatives from a number of central and eastern European Governments and discussed smoking-related issues, including cessation. The Department also works closely with the European region of the WHO to share information about activities on smoking cessation.

Hepatitis C

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what national guidance his Department has issued to combat the hepatitis C virus.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 29 April 2002
	The Department has issued the following publications relevant to hepatitis C 1 :
	Protection against Blood-borne Infections in the Workplace: HIV and hepatitis (Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogen—1995)
	Hepatitis C and Blood Transfusion Look back (1995)
	Purchasing Effective Treatment and care for Drug Misusers (1997)
	Guidelines for Clinical Health Care Workers: Protection against Blood-borne Viruses (1998)
	Guidance on the Risk and Management of Occupational Exposure to hepatitis C (Public Health Laboratory Service 1999)
	Drug Misuse and Dependence—Guidelines on Clinical Management (1999)
	Guidelines on the Use of Ribavirin and Interferon alpha for hepatitis C (National Institute for Clinical Excellence, 2000)
	Hepatitis C Factsheet (Health Promotion England, 2000)
	Guidance on the Microbiological Safety of Human Organs, Tissues and Cells used in Transplantation (2000)
	Hepatitis C—Guidance for Those Working with Drug Users (2001)
	National Specialised Services Definitions Set (1 Edition): Specialised Services for Hepatology, Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery (Adult) (2001)
	Health Advice for Travellers (2002)
	Hepatitis C—Essential Information for Professionals (2002)
	1 Where appropriate, the most recent editions of publications are listed.

TREASURY

Income Tax

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average income tax paid per household was in each of the last four years in (a) current and (b) 1997 prices.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of the average income tax liability per household in the UK over the past four tax years are shown in the table.
	
		Income tax paid by UK households
		
			 Tax year Average income tax liabilities (£) Average income tax at 1997 prices(38) (£) Average income tax as a percentage of gross household income 
		
		
			 1997–98 3,300 3,300 15.1 
			 1998–99 3,600 3,500 15.1 
			 1999–2000 3,750 3,550 15.0 
			 2000–01 3,950 3,650 15.1 
		
	
	(38) Using the GDP deflator at market prices
	These figures have been calculated using estimates of income tax liabilities based on the Survey of Personal Incomes, and estimates of the number of households based on the Labour Force Survey. Gross household income estimates are taken from Family Spending.

Income Tax

Martin Salter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how much more in income tax the average pensioner would pay if all the spending increases announced in the 2002 Budget were funded from income tax rather than national insurance contributions;
	(2)  by how much income tax would have to rise to fund the 2002 Budget increases for the NHS and other public services if income tax were used instead of the increases in national insurance.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to table A.1 in the Financial Statement and Budget Report, April 2002, for the yield from additional national insurance contributions. The direct effects of illustrative changes in income tax are given in table 4 of the "Tax Ready Reckoner and Tax Reliefs" published in November 2001, a copy of which is held in the Library of the House. This table will be updated in the statistics area of the Inland Revenue website on 31 May. The amount of income tax that any individual would pay depends upon how the additional income tax is levied.

Benefit Fraud

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2002, Official Report, column 851W, what the value was of the 18 penalties imposed as a result of allegations of WFTC/DPTC fraud made via the anti-fraud hotline; what the value was of the 530 recoveries; if the two prosecutions resulted in convictions and what the sentence received in each case was; and what the cost is of (a) the benefits anti-fraud hotline and (b) the childminder's hotline in 2001–02.

Dawn Primarolo: The NAO report into the Inland Revenue's accounts for 2000–01 confirms that inquiries were thoroughly appropriately followed up. Of the cases referred to in my answer of 5 February, 2002, Official Report, column 851, penalties of around £10,000 were imposed in the 18 cases which resulted from allegations to the national benefit fraud hotline about working families tax credit (WFTC) and disabled persons tax credit (DPTC) applicants. In addition, approximately £743,000 of tax credits is recoverable in relation to the 530 cases. Both of the prosecutions referred to resulted in convictions. The individuals convicted were given a two-year conditional discharge and 50 hours community service respectively.
	Based on figures to date for 2001–02, the Department for Work and Pensions estimates the total annual cost of running the national benefit fraud hotline at £816,000 and the estimated annual cost to running the childminder's hotline for WFTC and DPTC applications during 2001–02 at around £1,000.

Benefit Fraud

Frank Roy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases of fraud have been exposed during the past 12 months in relation to the child care tax credit system.

Dawn Primarolo: The child care tax credit is only one component of both working families' and disabled person's tax credits (WFTC and DPTC). In the 12 months to 31 March 2002 almost 8,000 WFTC or DPTC awards were found to be non-compliant but it is not possible to say how many of these included non-compliance in relation to child care charges.

Benefit Fraud

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) investigations, (b) penalties and (c) prosecutions have been instituted since September 2001 in respect of working families tax credit fraud.

Dawn Primarolo: In the period from 1 October 2001 to 31 March 2002 there have been (a) in the region of 11,000 investigations opened, (b) 310 penalties applied, and (c) 26 prosecutions instigated.

Benefit Fraud

Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason (a) a widow's pension is and (b) maintenance payments are not taken into account in assessing eligibility for working families tax credit.

Dawn Primarolo: The fact that widow's pension is taken into account in tax credits and maintenance payments are not, aligns the treatment with what happens in the rest of the tax system. The maintenance disregard also makes a significant contribution to tackling child poverty.

Ministerial Private Offices

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the running costs were of (a) his Ministers' private offices, separately identifying expenditure on staff and (b) his Department in each year from May 1997 to the nearest date for which the information is available.

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply of 8 January 2002, Official Report, column 808W.

Staff Numbers

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff have been employed by his Department in each of the last 10 years.

Ruth Kelly: The following table details the full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in post figures for each of the last 10 years to April 2001.
	
		Numbers of staff employed in each of the last 10 years
		
			  FTE 
		
		
			 2001 970 
			 2000 870 
			 1999 926 
			 1998 893 
			 1997 888 
			 1996 958 
			 1995 1,127 
			 1994 1,400 
			 1993 1,946 
			 1992 2,846

Special Advisers

Simon Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times special advisers have accompanied Ministers on overseas visits in each of the last five years; which countries were visited; and what the total cost of each individual visit was.

Ruth Kelly: holding answer 10 April 2002
	Between 1 April 2001 to date, special advisers in the Treasury have travelled overseas on three occasions at an average cost of £5,800. In each case a special adviser has accompanied the Chancellor to IMF and G20 meetings in the USA and Canada and associated events from 27 April 2001 to 1 May 2001, 16 to 19 November 2001 and from 19 to 22 April 2002. Information for the period 2 May 1997 to 31 March 2001 is already in the public domain. All travel by special advisers is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.

Relocation

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to relocate executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies under the remit of his Department to Scotland.

Ruth Kelly: holding answer 10 April 2002
	There are not currently any plans to relocate executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies under the remit of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to Scotland.

Tax Evasion

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures have been introduced since 1997 to reduce tax evasion by the use of offshore accounts.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue has a continuing commitment to detect and counter tax evasion. Resources are deployed with an emphasis on areas of high risk and the Inland Revenue's Special Compliance Office deals specifically with evasion involving offshore accounts.
	The Finance Act 2000 introduced a package of measures to improve the UK's ability to exchange tax information with other countries. Effective exchange of information is a key tool in reducing tax evasion by the use of offshore accounts.

Tax Evasion

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the estimated cost of tax evasion was in each of the last 10 years.

Dawn Primarolo: No such figures are available. There is no generally accepted method of producing a measure sufficiently reliable to be of value.
	The Inland Revenue has a continuing programme of counter-evasion work which covers all parts of the United Kingdom. Resources are deployed to detect evasion across the tax system with an emphasis on areas of high tax risk.

Taxation

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many forward contracts have been agreed by the Inland Revenue to allow taxpayers to negotiate a fixed regular payment of tax in place of the submission of an annual return in each year from 1997 to date; how many such agreements are in place; when such an agreement was first made; under what circumstances such agreements are made; and what the annual income is to the Inland Revenue from such agreements;
	(2)  how many UK taxpayers who make fixed regular payment in lieu of the submission of an annual return enjoy non-domicile status.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 15 April 2002
	The Inland Revenue has made a small number of such agreements, entered into at various dates since 1988, some involving taxpayers domiciled outside the United Kingdom. Typically, the arrangements agree a practical basis for taxing future income and gains where there would otherwise be particular difficulties in establishing an exact figure.
	Three agreements involving fixed regular payments were made since the start of 1997, but none of these is now considered current. Two have expired. The Inland Revenue is contending in court proceedings that the third is invalid.

Better Quality Services Initiative

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which of the services of his Department have not been reviewed under the Better Quality Services Initiative; and when they will be reviewed.

Ruth Kelly: The Better Quality Services (BQS) programme was launched in 1998 and adopted by the Cabinet Office in the "Modernising Government" White Paper of 1999 as a means of delivering continuous improvements in the quality and effectiveness of Government activities and services. It requires all Government Departments to review every activity and service over a five-year period starting in October 1999. The scheme covers all activities in Departments, agencies and executive non-departmental public bodies, and is similar in remit to the Best Value programme in local government.
	HM Treasury does not provide services direct to the public however; under the umbrella of the Better Quality Services programme we have reviewed some 40 per cent. of our activities. By the end of 2004, efficiency reviews will have been undertaken within all Treasury Directorates, using appropriate tools such as the European Foundation for Quality Management's Excellence Model.

Complaints

Colin Breed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints were registered against his Department in (a) 1990 to 1996 and (b) 1997 to 2002; how many are current; and what proportion were (i) taken up and (ii) upheld by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration in those periods.

Ruth Kelly: holding answer 19 April 2002
	Complaints handling is one of the areas covered by the Six Service Standards for central Government. Standard Five states that each central Government Department and agency "should have a complaints procedure or procedures for services it provides, publicise it, including on the internet, and send the customer information if they ask". Information about the Treasury's complaints procedures is on the Treasury's website at: www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/About/ about_complaints.cfm
	The Cabinet Office guidance "How to Deal with Complaints" advises Departments and agencies that they should develop a system to record all complaints about service delivery and policy. The Treasury has yet to do this so the information requested is not collected centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on the numbers of complaints taken up and upheld by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration is contained in the parliamentary ombudsman's annual reports covering the periods specified. Copies of the annual reports are available in the Library of the House and for the reports from 1997–98 on the parliamentary ombudsman's website at www.ombudsman.org.uk/pca/par01/index.htm
	During 2001–02 the Treasury received two new statutory statements of complaint from the parliamentary ombudsman and have responded to both which have been resolved. Since 1 April 2002 the Treasury has received no new statutory statements of complaint.
	The Treasury has one case that is current.

Budget Red Book

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to table 4.4 on page 79 of the 2002 Budget Red Book, if he will provide figures for each column in respect of marginal deduction rates (a) over 50 per cent. and (b) over 40 per cent.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 22 April 2002
	The table shows estimates of the number of families facing marginal deduction rates (MDRs) in excess of 40 per cent.
	
		Number of households facing MDRs of 40 per cent. and 50 per cent. (cumulative)
		
			 Marginal deduction rate Before Budget 1998 2002–03 system of tax and benefits After introduction of NTCs 
		
		
			 Over 100 per cent. 5,000 0 0 
			 Over 90 per cent. 130,000 45,000 45,000 
			 Over 80 per cent. 300,000 210,000 200,000 
			 Over 70 per cent. 740,000 255,000 260,000 
			 Over 60 per cent. 760,000 940,000 1,450,000 
			 Over 50 per cent. 760,000 1,140,000 1,600,000 
			 Over 40 per cent. 800,000 1,180,000 1,775,000 
		
	
	This analysis does not take into account the way in which the new tax credits will respond to rises in income, described in detail in "The Child and Working Tax Credit". The new tax credits respond only to rises in income in the current year of more than £2,500, disregarding the first £2,500 of any rise. This means that recipients will not see their tax credits reduced as soon as their income rises, so reducing the effective marginal deduction in any one year.The figures in the table, which cover the number of households in receipt of either income related benefits or the working families tax credit (WFTC) or new tax credits from April 2003, where at least one person works 16 hours or more, include the effects of income tax and national insurance contributions, and the withdrawal of housing benefit and council tax benefit.
	The effect of tax and benefit changes introduced since Budget 1998, including the WFTC, reduced the number of households facing MDRs in excess of 70 per cent. by around half a million. As WFTC is more generous than the family credit that it replaced, more households benefit from it, hence the larger numbers facing MDRs over 40 and 50 per cent. in 2002–03.
	Building on the success of WFTC, the Government will be introducing a new system of tax credits from April 2003. As the new tax credits will be more generous and inclusive than the current system of support, more households will be eligible, and those currently eligible will gain more, hence a greater number will face MDRs over 40 and 50 per cent. from 2003–04.

Corporation Tax

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of companies that will gain in 2002–03 from the exemption from corporation tax of companies with taxable profits of less than £10,000; and what the cost to public funds will be.

Dawn Primarolo: 150,000 companies with profits of £10,000 or less and with total corporation tax liabilities of £50 million in 2002–03 under a 10 per cent. starting rate of CT will have no liability as a result of the new zero rate band. Further information about changes to the corporation tax rates for small companies is contained in the Budget 2002 report.

Wanless Report Team

John Maples: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in respect of each member of the team listed in the Wanless report on the Future of the NHS, whether they are Treasury officials; and of those that are (a) what grade they hold and (b) what their individual functions in the Treasury are.

Andrew Smith: The following members of the Health Trends Review team are Treasury officials: Martin Beck (Range D); Jonathan Black (Range E), Ilona Blue (Range E), Simon Brindle (Range E), Anita Charlesworth (Range F), Marian Fairweather (Range B), Duncan Innes (Range E) and Ian Walker (Range F). Most of these officials worked exclusively for the Health Trends Review team, supporting Derek Wanless in his review of the long-term trends affecting the UK health service. Two also worked part of the time for the Treasury's Productivity and Public Service Delivery Analysis teams.

Recruitment

Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many net additional staff his Department has recruited in each month since June 2001 at (a) executive officer level and (b) administrative level.

Ruth Kelly: The information for HM Treasury is shown in the table:
	
		
			 Month/  Executive officer level  Administrative level  
			 type of staff Headcount FTE Headcount FTE 
		
		
			 June 2001 
			 Permanent 0 0 4 4 
			 Casual 1 1 5 5 
			 FTA 0 0 0 0 
			 Loan in 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 1 1 9 9 
			  
			 July 2001 
			 Permanent 1 1 2 2 
			 Casual 1 1 8 8 
			 FTA 1 1 0 0 
			 Loan in 1 1 0 0 
			 Total 4 4 10 10 
			  
			 August 2001 
			 Permanent 3 3 2 2 
			 Casual -1 -1 -2 -2 
			 FTA 0 0 0 0 
			 Loan in 0 0 1 1 
			 Total 2 2 1 1 
			  
			 September 2001 
			 Permanent 1 1 5 5 
			 Casual -1 -1 -8 -8 
			 FTA 1 1 5 5 
			 Loan in 0 0 1 1 
			 Total 1 1 3 3 
			 October 2001 
			 Permanent 1 1 0 0 
			 Casual 1 1 0 0 
			 FTA 0 0 0 0 
			 Loan in 0 0 1 1 
			 Total 2 2 1 1 
			  
			 November 2001 
			 Permanent 0 0 10 9.8 
			 Casual 1 1 0 0 
			 FTA 0 0 0 0 
			 Loan in 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 1 1 10 9.8 
			  
			 December 2001 
			 Permanent 0 0 7 7 
			 Casual -1 -1 0 0 
			 FTA 0 0 0 0 
			 Loan in 0 0 0 0 
			 Total -1 -1 7 7 
			  
			 January 2002 
			 Permanent 1 1 8 7.4 
			 Casual -1 -1 -1 -1 
			 FTA 0 0 -1 -1 
			 Loan in 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 0 0 6 5.4 
			  
			 February 2002 
			 Permanent 0 0 0 0 
			 Casual 0 0 2 2 
			 FTA 0 0 1 1 
			 Loan in 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 0 0 3 3 
			  
			 March 2002 
			 Permanent 2 2 5 5 
			 Casual 0 0 -1 -1 
			 FTA 0 0 0 0 
			 Loan in 1 1 2 2 
			 Total 3 3 6 6 
		
	
	Source:
	HM Treasury's Personnel Database

Terrorist Suspects

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action he is taking to freeze the assets of a person whose name has been communicated to him consequent on the G7 summit; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The individuals named at the G7 summit have been listed by the United Nations Security Council under resolution 1390, which imposes sanctions against the Taliban, Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and their associates. In line with our international obligations the Government instructed the Bank of England to issue an assets freeze on these individuals and organisations.

Climate Change Levy

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 23 April 2002, Official Report, columns 127–28W, what percentage of revenue raised by the climate change levy in 2001–02 has been (a) recycled to business through a reduction in employers' national insurance contributions and (b) funds targeted programmes of support measures for business investing in energy- saving technologies and practices; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Boateng: As set out in the answer of 23 April 2002, Official Report, columns 127–28W, climate change levy receipts for the year 2001–02 were £551 million. The 0.3 percentage point reduction in employers' national insurance contributions was worth approximately £1 billion in 2001–02. The scheme of enhanced capital allowances was expected to cost £70 million in 2001–02 and an additional £50 million was allocated to support for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Data Protection Act

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library copies of each version of the internal guidance which have been drawn up by his Department since 1 January 1999 to assist staff in his Department to answer subject access requests under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Ruth Kelly: The internal guidance to the Data Protection Act 1998 that is used to assist staff in answering subject access requests is being placed in the Library.

Departmental Underspends

Howard Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much departmental underspend was carried over from financial years (a) 2000–01 to 2001–02 and (b) 2001–02 to 2002–03 (i) in total and (ii) in the health budget.

Andrew Smith: Table 6 of "Public Expenditure 2000–01—Provisional Outturn" (CM 5243) shows details of departmental entitlements to carry forward underspends from 2000–01 into 2001–02. The individual entitlements may also include an element of underspending from earlier years.
	Details of the carry forward of 2001–02 underspends into 2002–03 are not available at present but will be announced before the summer recess.

Departmental Underspends

Howard Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he plans to allow underspend to be carried forward to Departments other than the initial recipient Department.

Andrew Smith: The End Year Flexibility (EYF) scheme, introduced with effect from 1 April 1999, allows Departments to carry forward their departmental expenditure limits (DEL) underspends (normally less the value of DEL Reserve claims agreed during the year) from one year to the next. There are no plans to amend the scheme to allow the reallocation of one Department's underspending to another.

Departmental Underspends

Howard Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the underspends were in the financial year 2001–02; for the Departments of (a) Health, (b) Education and Skills, (c) Defence, (d) Home and (e) Transport, Local Government and the Regions.

Andrew Smith: Table C14 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report" shows estimated outturn by Department. Details of Department's final plans and provisional outturn figures for 2001–02 will be published before the summer recess.

National Insurance

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage share of expenditure from the national insurance fund was allocated to (a) the NHS, (b) each category of contributory benefit expenditure and (c) pension rebates in each year since 1996–97; and what the estimate is for 2001–02.

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is provided in the national insurance fund accounts for 1996–97 (HC465), 1997–98 (HC130), 1998–99 (HC146), 1999–2000 (HC446) and for 2000–01 and 2001–02 in the report by the Government Actuary on the drafts of the Social Security Up-rating Order 2002 and the Social Security (Contributions) (Re-rating and National Insurance Funds Payments) Order 2002 (CM5383).

Tax Credits

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer following his account of classification of personal tax credits on page 216 of the Budget Red Book, how much of the expenditure on the WFTC in the latest year for which figures are available is less than equal to the tax liability of the household; how much expenditure on credits is exceeding liability; and what estimates he has made of his breakdown for the (a) child tax credit and (b) workers tax credit.

Dawn Primarolo: For 2001–02, around 12 per cent. of the working families tax credit scores as negative tax.
	For the working tax credit (WTC) and child tax credit (CTC), the latest available estimates are that about 10–11 per cent. of the new tax credits will score as negative tax in 2004–05 and later years. The proportion will be slightly higher, at about 13.5 per cent., in 2003–04. As part of the transitional arrangements child allowance payments (at enhanced CTC rates) to income support and jobseeker's allowance recipients will still count as social security benefits in the first year of the new credits, and are not included in the tax credit total until 2004–05. As these recipients are likely to have much lower income tax liabilities than other WTC and CTC recipients, the proportion scoring as tax falls in 2004–05.
	Separate figures for WTC and CTC are not available.

Stamp Duty

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many properties per annum he expects to benefit over the next three years from the exemptions from stamp duty for properties in disadvantaged areas listed in line 2 of Table A2.1 of the Financial Statement and Budget report.

Ruth Kelly: The number of properties per annum benefiting over the next three years from the current stamp duty exemption listed in Table A2.1 of the FSBR is estimated at around 40,000. At present the exemption applies to property transactions in designated wards where the consideration does not exceed £150,000. The Government intend to abolish stamp duty for all non-residential property transactions in these wards, subject to state aid approval.

Lung Cancer

Ian Gibson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the lung cancer mortality rates were in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from John Kidgell to Mr. Ian Gibson, dated 30 April 2002
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question concerning lung cancer mortality rates for each of the last five years for which figures are available. (53532) I am replying in his absence.
	The figures requested are given in the table below:
	
		Mortality rates(39) for malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus or lung(40), England and Wales, 1996–2000(41)
		
			   Rate per 100,000  
			 Calendar year Males Females 
		
		
			 1996 681 292 
			 1997 649 285 
			 1998 641 291 
			 1999 609 289 
			 2000 590 285 
		
	
	(39) Directly age-standardised to the European Standards Population.
	(40) Selected using code 162 from the International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision.
	(41) Data are for occurrences of death per calendar year.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics, 'Mortality Statistics: Cause, Review of the Registrar General on deaths by cause, sex and age, in England and Wales 2000.' Series DH2, Number 27, The Stationery Office (London: 2001).

Emigration

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many UK citizens emigrated in each of the last five years.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 30 April 2002
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question on emigration of UK citizens. (53136)
	The British Nationality Act 1981, which came into force on 1st January 1983, replaced citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies, with British citizenship, British Overseas citizenship, and British Dependent Territories citizenship. Therefore, the attached table shows outward international migration by British citizens during the last five years from 1996 to 2000.
	
		Total international migration: British citizens emigrating 1996 to 2000, United Kingdom -- thousands
		
			  British citizens 
		
		
			 1996 142.8 
			 1997 134.5 
			 1998 114.6 
			 1999 126.5 
			 2000 152.3 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures in these tables represent total international migration combining data from the International Passenger Survey, Home Office data on asylum seekers, and people who entered the UK as short-term visitors but were subsequently granted an extension of stay for a year or longer for other reasons, and estimates of migration between the UK and the Irish Republic.

Pornographic Films

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether film tax relief has been extended to pornographic films made in the United Kingdom since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Three of the four film tax reliefs are used for films, the master copy, tape or disc of which has been certified by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport as a British qualifying film. The changes announced in the Budget would restrict the reliefs to British qualifying films made for theatrical exhibition in the commercial cinema. The fourth relief is used for big budget international productions.